Of Prophecies, Nakama, and Magic
by crwatters
Summary: Au. Princess Lucy grows up unaware of of the magic she has, due to her parent's fear of a prophecy made when she was young. As a teen, she runs away, joins the newly formed guild Fairy Tail, and start the adventure of a life time. Eventual NaLu, though there's hints throughout. Rated T for general Fairy Tail stuff and some *cough* awkward *cough* situations. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Prologue

Long ago, in the kingdom of fairies, a princess was born. Her features were fair, her hair golden. She grew up with her mother and father, and they lived happily together. The princess was a kind child, helping those that needed it. Her mother died when she was young, about seven or so. Her father withdrew in grief, obsessing himself in the kingdom's affairs. He stopped spending time with the princess, but made sure she kept after her studies. She was his only heir, and while he had almost stopped caring about her, he cared very much for the kingdom he ruled. She was well educated in all things: mathematics, reading, writing, flying, hose back riding, the affairs of her people, and the like.

There was one subject that her father made sure her teachers neglected, however: the study of magic. Her mother had been a great celestial mage, and it was assumed that her daughter, Princess Lucy Heartfilia, had inherited the same abilities. However, when Princess Lucy was but a year old, too young to begin studying the ways of magic, there was an occurrence that made the king and queen wary of teaching their daughter magic.

A white cat, no, an Exceed arrived at the doorstep of the castle, raving of danger and demanding to see Their Majesties. The Exceed was taking to the infirmary and inspected by various nurses and doctors. A sleep spell was cast upon the Exceed to quite her ravings, the doctors thinking she might have been drunk and needing rest. For indeed, her ramblings were quite incredulous: she spoke of future events, of the princess and her magic, of danger to the kingdom. When the queen heard of these things, she rushed down to the infirmary, insisting she see the white Exceed.

Once she had woken up, the she-cat—who introduced herself as Shagotte – began to talk a little saner, and explained to the queen her abilities to sense the future. It was discovered that Shagotte was not just any Exceed, she was the leader of the Exceeds, effectively their queen. After hearing this, among other things, the queen of the fairies, Queen Layla, decided to trust Shagotte. The white she-cat then began to describe her vision:

"I sensed a danger to the future generations of our nations, something great and terrible. There was a whirlwind of images, death, pain, dark magic. Near the center of it all was your daughter, Lucy. She was older, about 16 or so, I'd guess. She had a ring of keys, I think she was attempting to use magic, but something happened… around her were bodies of others, bleeding and severely wounded. Blackness enveloped her. As that image faded, I heard screaming, screaming that became mad laughter. The next image showed an army of my people, heading to attack humans, lead by a black tom, a blue tom, and a white one – a female – that looked nearly identical to me… but she had both of her wings, her Aera magic fully functional… If not for that, I would say she _was me_…" Shagotte trailed off at this point, lost in thought. She snapped out of it, however, when the queen asked what she meant when she said the cat from her vision had both of her wings, unlike her. Shagotte explained that she had recently given birth to an egg, but that the egg was weak, so to save her child she sacrificed one of her wings. The white Exceed then activated her magic, showing Queen Layla that she did, in fact, have only one wing.

"In an effort to prevent this army from forming, from creating discord between our races, I have taken this generation's eggs, including my own, and have scattered them across the world. It has occurred to me that one of the leaders of this army, the white she-cat, could have been my own child, which seems more feasible than being me, but I can help but worry… The next scenes of the vision, were brief, but showed even more suffering… Your husband, dead, your daughter, enveloped in darkness, using her magic to open a gate of the stars, a gate I feel should never be opened… Then a dragon half-blood, a boy with pink hair, yelling at her, pleading… The royal army cutting down the Exceed army in a bloody sky battle, bodies falling to the earth… a city, burning, and then, the final image, a blue haired fairy weeping over the body of a black Exceed, blood staining her clothes." Shagotte bowed her head, her description complete. Queen Layla stared at her with shock, not knowing what image was more horrible, her husband, dead, her daughter a lunatic, or her people at war with the peace loving Exceeds.

"I apologize for being the bearer of bad news," Shagotte said, "But I felt you must be warned. The most logical course of action would be to kill your daughter, but I know, as a mother myself, you cannot do that. I have no solutions. I bear you no ill will, for nothing has really happened yet, and I cannot tell you what to do with this information, but I have done what I can to try and change the future, something that I'm not even sure is possible, yet I could not be the leader of my people and allow this to happen without attempting _something_." She looked at Layla with hopeless, pleading eyes, wishing the fairy queen had an answer, but knowing she didn't.

"I understand. Thank you for warning me. I too, am concerned, but like you, I have no answers. I shall discuss this with my husband. In the mean time, stay as long as you wish you return to Extalia." Queen Layla sighed, feeling as if she had aged years in a manner of minutes.

Later that night, Queen Layla met with her husband after they had finished putting their daughter, Lucy, to bed. Layla told King Jude of all she had learned that day, excluding his death. She could not bear tell him he was to die during this mess, as if that would make the whole thing more real. King Jude did not want to believe it at first, but he had to concede the information did come from a credible source.

"One possible solution, Layla, is to not allow Lucy to even learn magic," the king suggested, a worn look upon his face. The queen vigorously protested, listing all the benefits of celestial magic. Jude cut her off, asking if she had a better way of trying to prevent that future, short of killing their daughter. She did not. So Queen Layla hid her keys, and Princess Lucy grew up never knowing she could use magic.

It was one of the few things that stayed the same after Layla's death. Princess Lucy ignored by her father, or yelled at. It was hard for her to decide which was worse, not seeing her father, or being yelled at for "disturbing" his work.

For the first few years after her mother's death, Lucy tried to reconnect with her father, as well as her young self could. She drew him pictures, brought him snacks she made, only to be yelled at, watch her creations be destroyed before her eyes, and the eventually be sent away, if she did not run away crying first. Eventually, the young princess gave up, tired of being punished for wanting to spend time with the king. She was, after all, his _daughter_. She felt it was, well, her _birthright_ to know her father, to hang out with him, to play games with him.

She shut herself in her room, only coming out when her rigorous studies demanded it. Part of her lessons was a weekly trip out into the capital city, to observe ways of her kingdom first hand (which, aside from being dragged around the city with her tutor, meant she helped her maids with their weekly errands. Princess Lucy suspected this was not actually part of her lessons, but she didn't really mind).

It was these trips into the city that lead the Princess to some of the greatest—and worst—adventures of her life.

* * *

A/N: Woo hoo! The first chapter of my first multi-chapter fic is complete! Please review! Tell me if you liked it, and if not, what I can do to improve. Thanks for reading! See you later for Chapter 2!

~ C.R. Watters


	2. Chapter 2: Lost and Found

**Disclaimer: I am not, and never will be Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

Lost and Found

The day had started out normal enough. It was a Wednesday, the day she was dragged out into Magnolia, the capital, to observe the workings of her kingdom. Princess Lucy had dressed in her city-going clothes (hand-picked by her maids, designed to make her seem too low class to rob, but of a high enough class as to not be bothered), donned her brunette wig, and flown out of the castle with her maids and tutor. Her tutor had taken her to a bank, the market, and a law enforcement office so she how the city changed in preparation for the upcoming Peace Festival.

Lucy had found the idea of the festival mildly intriguing and had been interested to see how the city prepared to host an influx of guests from all three races. The Peace festival was created hundreds of years ago to celebrate the long standing peace between Extalia, Fiore and Serpentia. During the festival, Exceeds, fairies, and dragons mingled and partied in—mostly in the capitals of—the three kingdoms. The festival began in 3 days, the day after her 15th birthday. The city was already so crowded as travelers came pouring in, the princess couldn't imagine it holding the thousands more that were expected by the beginning of the festival.

And that had been the key to her problem. After her tutor had finished lecturing Lucy, he had passed her off to her maids for the afternoon's errands. She had followed them, watching the children play around her and on the streets below.

Princess Lucy watched the children fly around, watched the boys tussle while the girls braided each other's hair. She noticed how one mother came out to scold her son, but quickly relented, smiling and hugging the little fairy. The princess was jealous of the city children, and had been for a while. She wished her mother was alive. She wished her father would smile at her. Lucy wished she had a friend to run amok on the streets with. The princess of Fiore was lonely. But she knew her place (King Jude had put her in it many times before). Princess Lucy was to grow up prim and proper, and selflessly serve her kingdom until her dying day. She was sick of it. She wished she had been born an ordinary citizen with an ordinary family.

Lost in these thoughts, Lucy had not noticed that she had stopped flying and was merely hovering. She had not noticed as her maids turned and disappeared into the crowd. When she noticed she was alone, she began frantically flying around and through the crowd, searching for her maids. She ignored the catcalls, the angry shouts as she overturned a crate of apples and the glares from citizens as she shoved through the three-dimensional crowd.

By this time, her maids had noticed her absence and had also started searching for her. However, due to the immense size of the city and the crowds in it, the maids and their princess probably passed each other a dozen times without noticing it.

After flying all over the city for an hour, Lucy was tired. Not to mention lost. She had managed to find her way into one of the poor sectors of the city, but that was all she knew of her location. Poor Lucy couldn't even see the castle, and her wings were done carrying her to and fro. So the princess landed in an alley of one of the city's slums. She didn't want to hear one more person call out to her, whether it was to tell her to scat or to complement her boobs (she was glad people found her attractive, but that was beside the point). She wanted to go home, see someone she knew, or at least know _where on Earthland_ she was.

She thought she had known loneliness before, in her jealousy of the city kids, but now she knew true loneliness. She felt all alone in the world, unloved, left alone without a clue as to where she was. Princess Lucy put her head in her hands and promptly began to cry.

* * *

A bit further down the street from Lucy was a large building whose paint was peeling off. The doors of this building burst open suddenly, ejecting a pink haired boy. His flying cat soon followed, albeit of his own free will. "Naaaatsu! Wait for me!" the little blue Exceed calledout as his friend stormed off in a huff.

Natsu slowed, but did not stop. He muttered to himself about an "ice bastard," "damn exhibitionist," and "whooping ass," although much of it was incomprehensible. When his Exceed friend caught up to him, the he-cat whined, "Natsuuuu, you made Erza so mad this time I'm surprised she's even letting you come back!"

Natsu had little reply to this except to mumble, "I was aiming for _Gray_, not her. It was an accident. And besides, she has a dozen other suits of armor. I don't see why she cared that this one got melted a little."

The Exceed was going to reply, but something else had caught the boy's attention. It was a girl, with brown hair, crying her eyes out at the edge of an alley. Natsu jogged in her direction.

The girl was, in fact, the princess in her brown wig. Lucy was almost cried out, and had begun to remember that her father always scolded her for crying. At this thought, she was starting to become an emotional wreck, wanting to go home, but at the same time scared of how the king would react when he heard she had been lost. So really, you can't blame her for screaming "I'm not crying!" at a well-meaning Natsu when he asked why she was crying. Crying was, after all, a sign of weakness in someone who was to someday rule the kingdom.

Natsu was startled, and Lucy was shocked at her own outburst. She immediately began to apologize to the strange, pink-haired boy who was, after all, just trying to be nice. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I was just leaving." At this, Princess Lucy picked herself up, dusted herself off, and began to walk away (her wings too sore to fly still), trying to recover what little dignity she had left at this point.

Natsu ran up beside her and declared, "Then I'm going with you!" Surprised, Lucy said chidingly (but not too unkindly, she hoped), "Y-you, you idiot! You don't know who I am or even where I'm going!"

The boy blinked then broke into a fanged grin. "I'm Natsu and this is Happy," he said, indicating the blue Exceed who had been silent through the whole interaction. "Aye sir!" Happy agreed. "And what's your name?"Natsu inquired.

"I'm… I'm Lucy." The princess disliked lying, and she felt it was unlikely anyone would recognize her in her wig. Besides, she reasoned, many little girls had been named Lucy after she was born, in honor of her.

Natsu, if it was even possible, grinned wider. "So where ya going?"

Princess Lucy looked at him, then away again. "I… I don't know." Lucy couldn't possibly explain to this boy that she was the princess and needed to back to the palace, or at least to her maids. So she left it at that.

"Well then, Luigi, come with me and meet my nakama!" Natsu hated to see people cry, and he thought his friends/ adoptive family could cheer anyone up. So he grabbed her hand, and, ignoring her protests and exclamations of "my name's Lucy!" he dragged her down the street. To be honest, the princess didn't mind being dragged by the hand to meet the friends of this strange pink-haired boy. She thought that maybe, just for a while, she could pretend to be a normal child and maybe, just maybe, become friends with this Natsu. And so, for the first time in a long while, the princess of Fiore threw caution to the wind.

* * *

When they arrived at the large building, Natsu kicked open the doors as Happy yelled, "WE'RE BACK!" The three were greeted with people saying things like, "You weren't gone that long…" "Erza's gonna kill you," and "Oooh! Natsu's brought a girl home!"

But really, it was amazing anyone heard Happy's shout. The room (it appeared to be some kind of gathering place) was filled with people drinking, yelling, and fighting. One of the first things Lucy noticed, though, was something completely different.

"You're all kids!" she screeched, surprised at the lack of adults in the room. Natsu pulled her over to the bar, where a silver-headed girl a few years older than Lucy was serving drinks.

"Not all, deary, but most." The girl corrected. "This is Luigi," Natsu said, in an attempt to introduce the princess. Lucy was irritated. "For the last time, my name's LUCY."

The girl behind the bar giggled. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. I'm Mirajane. Welcome to our home."

"Your home?!" Lucy exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.

"Yep. This is kind of an orphanage, although we don't really like to call it that. We're all one big, messy family." Right as Mirajane said family, some unidentifiable flying object came sailing towards her head, which she managed to (barely) duck.

Mirajane continued with her explanation. "We don't like the term orphanage because none of us get adopted out and also because orphanages have a bad reputation. This is more like a home to us, because most of us have nowhere else to go. We're all friends here, even if it doesn't seem like it," gesturing to the brawl as she said this.

Lucy turned around, watching Natsu wrestle with a black-haired boy in the midst of the brawl. Lucy was confused at first as to why no one was flying, but then she supposed that if anyone brought their wings out, it would be like shouting, "This is my weak spot!" as all fairy wings are delicate.

The two boys rolled back and forth, punching and kicking each other. When Natsu leaned forward to bite the other boy, the other boy drew back, and kicked Natsu father away, and yelled, "That's it, flame head! _Ice Make lance!_"

The princess's brown eyes grew wide as she saw ice appear from nowhere. She gasped when Natsu breathed fire to melt the ice. She had never seen anything like that before.

Lucy turned to Mirajane. "What the hell just happened?!" she exclaimed. "Where'd the ice come from? And the fire?!" Mirajane shot her a confused look. "It's magic, of course."

Princess Lucy could not believe what she was hearing. All of her years, she had been told magic did not exist. It was just part of story books. She'd been told this by her tutor, her maids, her father, even her _mother_. Lucy simply could not bear the thought that her mother had lied to her.

"Magic isn't real!" she screeched. Mirajane just sighed, mentally wondering if this girl had lived in a hole her whole life, since she was practically overflowing with magic.

"Come, Lucy," Mirajane said, "Levy can explain this better than I can."

Mirajane came out from behind the bar, and lead the princess over to a table on the side of the room, where a blue-headed girl was sitting. This girl, who Lucy correctly guessed to be Levy, was wearing strange glasses and was reading a book faster than should have been possible for a fairy. There were a few stacks of books surrounding her.

When Mirajane tapped her on the shoulder, Levy looked up. "Hi Levy, this is Lucy. She doesn't understand magic. Could you explain it to her, please?" Levy, who looked to be about Lucy's age, nodded, and began re-arranging her books, so Lucy could look at her unobstructed.

"So, Lucy, what do you want to know about magic?" Levy inquired, taking off her glasses.

"Everything, I guess," Lucy replied. "All my life I've been told it doesn't exist."

"That's odd," Levy mused, mostly to herself, "since you're full of the stuff."

Lucy was shocked. "I have magic in me?!"

Levy nodded. "You have great potential to be a mage." The bluenette then began to explain the concept of magic to the princess; everything from how magic is part of a mage's life force, to how many of her nakama used magic to complete jobs to support the giant family and themselves. Lucy was surprised. Surprised that sweet Mirajane could transform into a demon, that you could be paid for using magic, that Natsu was half-dragon and that he wasn't the only one. That Levy was also a mage. Levy pointed out other people around the room, and described their magic.

Gray Fullbuster (the magic dueling Natsu), user of Ice Make magic.

Cana Alberona, card mage (and lover of alcohol, but that doesn't really affect her magic).

Laxus Dreyer, grandson of Makarov (who was in charge of the place), user of an elemental magic used by lightning dragons. Laxus took a lot of explaining. He could use dragon magic, but neither of his parents was a dragon. He had a lacrima implanted in him when he was little. Then Levy had to explain to Lucy that a lacrima was a type of stone that could hold magical power.

Erza Scarlet, who was sitting at the table next to them, user of requip magic.

Erza had come in while Levy was explaining Laxus to Lucy. So far, she hadn't noticed that Natsu was fighting in the brawl. However, Natsu hadn't seen her come in, either. Erza had come in, placed an order with Mirajane – strawberry cheesecake—and sat down to eat.

The brawl became more chaotic as time went on, and began to grow and shift toward Levy and Lucy's side of the room. Erza - who had been ignoring the brawl for the most part—looked up when a bit of flying debris knocked over her cheesecake. Her eyebrow twitched. Then a sword appeared in her hand. She was about to break up the fight when she noticed a pink- haired monstrosity.

"NATSU!" she bellowed. Natsu, thinking it was the call of a challenger, shot some fire in her direction. When he saw who was yelling, he changed the direction of the bolt immediately. Lucky for him, it missed Erza and her armor. Unlucky for Lucy, it hit her wig.

Lucy felt the heat, and smelled hair burning, and so, without pausing to remember where she was, whipped off her "hair" and proceeded to stamp the fire out. Erza, who had been about to yell at Natsu for catching someone's hair on fire, stopped in disbelief. She was old enough that she remembered the queen very clearly, and had even seen the princess once or twice. In need of an explanation, she grabbed the nearest person who had been in the fight, a poor soul named Jet (who had joined the brawl to fight for Levy's honor), and demanded to know what the crown princess of Fiore was doing in the room.

"N-natsu brought her here," gulped a scared Jet. Someone, namely, Happy, shouted, "RUN, NATSU!" And the dragon hybrid made a dash for the door, right as Erza screeched "NATSU DRAGNEEL! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?!" And so Natsu was on the streets for the second time that day, this time being pursued by a livid Erza with murder in her eyes.

* * *

Levy sighed. "Come on, Your Highness, we should leave while we can. I'll escort you home."

As they left the building, Princess Lucy told Levy to just call her Lucy, as she liked it better than being spoken to with all of the formalities. And she assured Levy that she had come with Natsu of her own free will and that no one would get in trouble for kidnapping the princess. Levy found that she liked the princess, that she was a very nice (if vain), _normal_ person.

When Lucy said she was in town every Wednesday, and asked if she could visit them again, Levy said yes. The Solid-Script mage hoped she could see Lucy again.

Lucy then asked if Levy had any clue what kind of magic she could use.

"Your mother, the late queen, was a celestial mage, so there is a strong likelihood that you are too," was the answer Levy gave her.

Lucy was surprised at this. Her mother had been a mage and hadn't told her?! She wanted to think Levy was lying to her, but Lucy could tell she wasn't.

"How does one use celestial magic?" Lucy inquired.

"It's a type of Holder magic, in which the user uses keys to open gates to the celestial spirit world, and make contracts with the spirits. The spirits help the mage do whatever needs to be done." Levy said, as they zipped through the crowd. They made sure not to get separated, and Princess Lucy was wearing a hat Levy had snatched off someone's head before they had left the building. Lucy still didn't want anyone to recognize her, and the brown wig was no longer fit for use.

As they neared the castle, the talk turned to books. Levy was delighted to hear that Lucy shared her love for books, and the two chatted about which books were their favorites, Levy helping Lucy clear up what abilities were fiction, and which were real.

All too soon, Lucy spotted her maids (which were just about to return to the castle in defeat), and had to say goodbye to Levy, promising to visit her again the next Wednesday. When Lucy rejoined her maids, there were exclamations of "There you are!" "Where have you been, young lady?!" and "What happened to your wig?!" Lucy, deciding she didn't want to tell anyone of her new friends, in case they should be endangered by a statement taken the wrong way (she was _the princess_ after all), made up a fib. Even though she hated lying, Princess Lucy told her maids a story about her own clumsiness, a torch, and a nice old lady with a spare hat and directions to the palace. The maids believed her, because why would the princess lie?

Thus was the beginning of Lucy's adventures.

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A/N: Osoreirimasu, FireShifter, for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

Minna, please review and let me know what you thought! Did you like it? Was there a typo? Was a character OOC? Please let me know so I can improve! Thanks!

~C. R. Watters


	3. Chapter 3: Locked Doors (part 1)

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated! School began, and things have been more hectic than I anticipated. However, I will try my best to have an update posted every Wednesday (hehe). Thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction, and I am a high schooler. Put the pieces together.**

* * *

Locked Doors

The next evening, Lucy sat in her room, tapping a quill against her lip. She wanted to write her mother, as she did whenever something major happened. But how does one ask their dead mother about magic and simultaneously accuse them of keeping secrets? All while showing love and respect, of course.

Sighing, the princess put down her quill. Writing her mother would have to wait. She needed answers, and no matter how much Lucy wanted her mother to respond to her, the queen would never be able to.

Lucy stood up, and rang the bell by her desk to call one of her maids. There was only one practical way to get answers. Approach her father.

The maid that answered her summons was Lydia, one of the older maids.

"Hello, Lydia," Lucy greeted the older woman. "Please help me get dressed for dinner."

Lydia widened her eyes. The princess rarely attended dinner with her father unless she was summoned. It was well known among the castle servants that Lucy didn't particularly care for her father's company. So for Lucy to willingly wish to attend dinner was unusual, to say the least.

"What does Your Highness want to wear?" Lydia asked.

"Hm," was the maid's response as Lucy tapped her chin. This required a little thought. "I suppose something nice… not too formal, but not remotely close to casual. What about that sea-green dress I wore to that governor's party last year? Yes, that should do it!"

Lydia inclined her head and hurried off to fetch the dress. The king would be served dinner in about half an hour, if her memory was correct. They needed to hurry if the princess wanted to dine with him.

A few minutes later, Lydia returned to Lucy's room with the dress and the other two of Lucy's maids, Stephanie and Beth. Beth was the youngest of the maids, but still a good ten years older than the princess.

"Thank you," Lucy acknowledged their efforts softly. In truth, eating dinner with her father scared her. There were so many ways this could go wrong. She didn't know why her parents had kept the existence of magic from her, and her inquiry could easily set her father off. The simplest, most practical reason she could think of was her mother was for some reason ashamed of her magic, or didn't care for it, like it brought up bad memories. Or maybe her father hated magic, and asked Lucy's mother to give it up and keep it from their daughter. If that was the case, Lucy was angry at her father.

But the fact was, Lucy had no idea why she hadn't been taught about magic. Surely it was important to the country's economy, right? And if she was to someday rule Fiore, shouldn't she know her country inside out? Too many questions, and not enough answers. This was why Lucy needed to have a chat with her father.

"There you go, Princess. Now let's get you to dinner before the soup is served."

Lucy started, realizing she had zoned out while her maids were dressing her. She nodded, and Beth, the one who had brought her out of her trance, led the way out into the hall. As Lucy passed her mirror, she glanced at herself. It'd been a while since she'd worn a dress. They weren't practical for wear at most instances, as one would spend much of the day flying, but they were pretty ways of showing other aristocrats that a girl wanted to impress them. Which is exactly how Lucy wanted her father to be. Impressed.

The dress flowed down in gentle ruffles, a pale sea-green with dark blue accents. It would serve its purpose.

Lucy lifted her head high, and walked into the hallway and down to the dining room. She was cool, she was calm, she was collected. Well, she wanted to be. But the princess would fake until she made it, so to speak. It was how she had been raised. Do not let others see unnecessary emotion. It was a weakness that they could use against you.

She reached the double doors and, taking a deep breath, nodded to Beth and Stephanie, indicating that they should open the doors and announce her.

Lucy did not pay attention to her maids from then on, looking instead to where she knew her father would be. The princess wanted to have the small victory of seeing the surprise on his face when he saw her enter the hall. Things would only get messy from there, so Lucy planned to remember this moment.

King Jude was most certainly shocked. His façade slipped for a moment, revealing this, however he quickly amended his error and greeted his daughter.

"Lucy! It's good to see you at dinner. Have you finally accepted your role?" By her "role" Lucy knew he meant for her to be his perfect princess, behaving only as he wished, polite until the end. When he said this though, Lucy felt her irritation and anger begin to rise. She knew this wouldn't end well.

"No. I am here to satisfy my own will. How can I fulfill my 'role' if I don't even know anything?!" The king began to glower at her, clearly upset at her impudence. She continued anyway.

"I am referring, of course, to the topic of _magic_. Why the hell did you keep this from me? Why did _Mom_ ke—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, young lady! I will NOT be spoken to that way! Your mother and I did what we thought was best, and that's the end of that. You will drop the subject and NEVER bring it up again. Magic does NOT exist, as far as you're concerned. Do you understand?"

Lucy stared at her father, the wheels in her head turning, digesting what little information she had been given and searching for clues, for answers. Her father scared her, but Lucy couldn't back down.

"Yes—" she whispered, somewhat scared of what she was about to do.

Her father nodded, misinterpreting her response and quickly attempted to change the subject. "Good. Meanwhile, you're getting close to marriageable age and there's a few eligible young—"

Lucy interrupted the king, something that was _seriously_ frowned upon.

"YES, I understand. I understand that you will not tell me what I need to know, that you want me to be your _puppet_. But I will not be. I will find out anything and every little thing you have been keeping from me. Good night, _Father_." Lucy practically spat the last words at him, and turned on her heal, leaving the dining hall without ever having sat down. The maids gawking at her, she left with as much dignity as she had when she came in.

"Why was I born to such a –" here Lucy uttered every single foul word she had ever heard on the streets. It was a totally un-princess way to speak, but at the moment, she didn't really want to be a princess.

She began to run, turning this corner and that, wishing she had worn something more appropriate to fly in. But she hadn't so she ran, not even knowing where she was going until she reached the door of her mother's room. At some point, her parents had shared this room, but after the queen's death, it seemed the king couldn't stand being in there without her, and had moved rooms, leaving her old things alone.

Princess Lucy, tears beginning to form in her eyes, turned the handle. She threw open the door and flung herself on the bed, and promptly began to sob in a pillow. Lucy didn't know what to do now. Her father would be furious, and would punish her severely, she knew. And there were still _so many questions_.

Having cried herself out, Lucy turned her head to the side, and looked at her mother's jewelry box, pondering what to do.

"Oh, Momma, what should I do? Father—"

Something caught her eye, stopping her midsentence. Hanging on the wall next to the jewelry box was a key ring. She faintly remembered it hanging there once or twice when she was younger, but she had never paid them much attention. They were just keys. _Or were they?_

She stood up, and walked over to examine them more closely. There were two gold ones, and four silver ones. They were similar to normal keys, but were slightly bigger, and were fancier. These keys seemed elegant, too elegant to be normal keys. There were little symbols at the top… a cross and a crab, she thought, looking at two of them. Lucy wasn't sure what the others were.

Thinking back to what Levy had said yesterday, about how the queen had been a celestial mage, a user of keys, Lucy felt she knew _exactly_ what these were for. The princess was pretty sure these weren't for unlocking normal doors. She knew what she was going to do now.

Whispering a little "thanks, Momma," to wherever her mother was, Lucy grabbed the keys of the wall and left her mother's room.

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A/N: Part 2 of "Locked Doors" will be available next Wednesday. I was planning on just making this a really long chapter, but if I'm to post this now I don't have time. Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think!

~C. R. Watters


	4. Chapter 4: Locked Doors (part 2)

A/N: Thank you FT LOVER for reviewing! I'm so excited you enjoy reading my work I hope you like this next chapter!

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima is not a teenage girl with lots of homework. Lucky duck.**

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Locked Doors (Part 2)

Lucy hurried back to her room, the queen's keys clutched to her chest. She shooed her maids out of her room quickly, saying she was going to bed and was just fine, thank you. The second they were gone, she shut and locked her bedroom door. This was going to be a long night.

The princess placed the keys on her desk, and started rummaging through various chests, closets and drawers, trying to decide what to bring. Lucy knew it was most likely a rash decision, but she was not going to be living in her father's castle anymore. The plan was for her to return someday, enlightened on all the subjects she had been kept in the dark about, and a strong, powerful lady fit to rule a kingdom. Lucy was not shirking her duty, she was going to rule someday, but she was done with her father's way of education. Also, she had no intentions on being married off to whoever her father chose. It may have been naïve thinking, but she was going to try and find the love of her life, like in the books.

Ruffling through a chest of her city clothes, she decided on a pair of leggings and a tunic for cooler weather, some short shorts and a tank top for warmer weather, and a few different pairs of boots. The princess almost grabbed her favorite corset, but remembered she wouldn't have her maids help her put it on if she couldn't tighten it herself. It was a more formal padded leather corset, meant to go underneath gowns and fancy tunics. However, it needed to be tied _very securely, _and Lucy knew she couldn't do that alone. Sighing, Lucy put it back and instead pulled out a cloth and wire contraption, similar to the corset, but with nothing to tighten. This thing was pulled over the head and wings like a shirt. Convenient for women who had no handmaids, but it was _so uncomfortable_ compared to the corset. Chiding herself for acting stuck up, the princess picked up the clothes and dumped them on her bed.

She wished she could take more, but she would have to carry everything when she left. A normal fairy could only carry about half their weight while flying and even then only for a few seconds. Lucy didn't know how long she would be looking for a place to stay, and did not want to be lugging around half her closet. She located a decent bag back in the depths of her closet, and proceeded to stuff the clothes in it.

Money. She would need some money. Poking around her room, Lucy tried to remember all the little hidey holes her child-self had stashed jewels in anticipation for "big things". She found a grand total of 10 jewels. That was nowhere near enough. From her studies she knew the average fairy lived on about 200,000 jewels a month.

Lucy suddenly brightened, an idea taking her out of her disappointment. She hopped up, and went to her own jewelry box. Surely she could sell some of her jewelry and receive a few jewels in return, right? She poked through the gleaming gold and silver, and tried to remember what combination of jewels and metal was worth the most. Settling on a gold necklace with inset diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, the princess placed one of the kingdom's most valuable necklaces in a boot at the bottom of her bag.

Now that that was taking care of, she picked up the bag and held it, testing the weight. It was pretty light, and Lucy thought she might be able to fit her favorite novel in it without much trouble. When the princess snatched her favorite novel from her desk, she also grabbed the papers containing the beginning of her own novel, and a quill. She folded up the papers and put them with the book and quill in her bag. Tying the bag up nice and tight, Lucy felt her heart beating faster. She was really going to do this! It thrilled her, and frightened her. She was leaving all she had known behind and heading out into the unknown, hopefully to find answers of all kinds.

Satisfied she had packed all she needed, the princess changed out of the dress she had worn to impress her father, and into a hooded shirt and pants, darkly colored to help her blend with the shadows. She hadn't done much sneeking out herself, but Lucy remembered the basics from various books she'd read. The number one rule: don't get caught.

Attaching her mother's keys to her belt, Lucy pondered what to write in her "I'm leaving, don't come after me," note. She sat down at her desk and began tapping a quill on her lip for the second time that day. What she decided on was this:

_Father,_

_I am leaving the castle of my own free will to discover all that you have not told me. Don't worry, I will return someday to take my place as a ruler of Fiore. But do not come after me. I swear you will regret it if you do. Take care._

_Your daughter,_

_Princess Lucy Heartfilia of Fiore_

It wasn't terribly elaborate, but she hoped it would do the trick. Knowing her father, he would look for her at first, but Lucy thought she could remain undercover until he gave up. Hopefully, the king would expect her to get as far away from the castle as possible before settling down. In reality, the princess would not be leaving the capital. Her plan was to trade in the necklace for some jewels, then find an inn to spend a few nights in, after purchasing a new wig, of course. As soon as dawn broke the next day, she would head out looking for an apartment and a job. Once she was settled down, Lucy would track down Levy, swear her to secrecy, and then ask her about every single thing her father had never told her. It was a good plan.

Lucy sealed up the note to her father in an envelope, sealed it with her own personal seal, and neatly laid it on her pillow. She blew out all of the candles in her room, lifted her bag and carried it over to the window. She opened her curtains just a tiny bit, and began to observe how the guards flew around.

After about an hour or so, when Lucy figured she knew the patterns well enough, she opened her window, tucked her bag under her arm, and left.

She kept to the shadows, lower to the ground than most of the guards, and slowly crept her way to the east gate. She flew over it when the guards had their attention elsewhere, and quickly flew down several streets.

When Lucy was sure she was far enough away, she put down her bag, arms aching, and stopped to catch her breath. This long night was beginning to wear on her. The princess was going to have to amend her plans. There was no way she was getting up early in the morning.

She picked up her bag again, and began to walk around the city, allowing her wings to rest. She kept an eye out for potential inns to spend the night as she searched for somewhere to sell the necklace. Unfortunately, all the inns came across had a sign posted on the door that read NO VACANCY. And all the pawn shops and the like that she passed were closed. Her brilliant idea was beginning to seem very, very foolish.

Finally, Lucy found one store that specialized in trinkets that was open. It did not look like the nicest of places, but at least it was open. The princess pushed open the door and heard a bell ring lightly, announcing her presence.

A little man with gray hair and squinty eyes came out from the depths of the shop and greeted her. Lucy really hoped all her hair was secure in her hood.

"Good evening, good sir. I have an item to sell, if you are interested," the princess used her very best "polite" voice as she said this.

The little man raised an eyebrow and let out a cheery, "come, come!" as he lead her to a surprisingly clean counter near the right side of the shop. Lucy put her bag on the counter, untied it, and shoved her hand into it. Shifting around, she found the boot with the necklace in it and withdrew the necklace.

As she set it on the counter, the man whistled. "Don't suppose you could tell me where you got this, eh, missy?" he pried. Lucy shook her head.

"Hmm. Well that makes things more difficult. I'll trade with you, the necklace for this fabulous magic item that came in yesterday. It will surely be popular among the girls soon!" At this the elderly man pulled out a little pink gadget and swiped his finger over it. "It changes the color of your clothes based on your mood! Ta da!"

Dancing around a bit, he sang as his colors morphed colors.

"No thanks," Lucy said firmly. "I'm looking to sell, and sell only."

The man stopped his odd dance-thing and looked at her real good, then set the pink gadget down and examined the necklace.

"Fine. I'll give you 19,000 jewels."

Lucy had a feeling she was being ripped off. She shifted herself up and sat on the counter, leaning over a bit. "Are you sure you'll only pay me 19,000 jewels?" she purred, hoping her shapely form would get her more jewels.

A little later, she left the shop, down a necklace, but with 20,000 more jewels.

"A thousand jewels?! My good looks are only worth a _thousand jewels?_" the princess exclaimed, feeling insulted.

She wandered on down the street, feeling extremely sleepy. At the first bar she came across, she entered, trying to ignore the stench of sweat, vomit, and alcohol. Luckily, Lucy managed to locate a lady wearing a black wig with blue highlights. The princess offered the lady 600 jewels for the wig. The woman shrugged and countered with 700. Lucy dug the money out, counted it, and handed it over.

After Lucy had securely tucked her hair into the wig, and went to find somewhere to sleep. A few blocks down from the bar, she located a house with a light on. The princess knocked on the door, and practically begged to spend the night there, saying she could pay; she'd cause no trouble, etc., etc. Slightly reluctantly, the couple that lived there agreed and let her in. Lucy settled down on the floor, exhausted.

And so the princess of Fiore spent her first night/ early morning in the capital city, on the floor of a nice couple's house.

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A/N: Yay! Part 2 of Locked doors is done! Thanks for reading, and please tell me what you think!

~C.R. Watters


	5. Chapter 5: Life of a Commoner

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday! The homework was off the charts, and by the time I was finished, I could barely keep my eyes open. Gomenasai!

**Disclaimer:**

**Natsu: These aren't the droids you're looking for.**

**Storm trooper 1: These aren't the droids we're looking for…**

**Storm trooper 2: …Wait. We weren't looking for droids. We were looking for someone by the name of Hiro Mashima.**

**Natsu: Oh. He isn't here either. This is C.R. Watters, though, a friend of ours.**

**Me: Hi!**

**Lucy: You guys have this all wrong! And why is this taking place in **_**my**_** apartment?! Get out! …LUCY KICK!**

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Life of a Commoner

_Ow. _Why was her bed so _hard_? Lucy couldn't remember it being this uncomfortable. She opened her eyes, and remembered. Remembered she was at home. That she wasn't going back for quite some time. That she should get up and find some place to live and sleep other than the floor of someone else's house.

Groaning, Lucy sat up. She popped her back and stretched her wings, wishing she had slept somewhere (like a particular feather mattress) that didn't hurt as much. Then she realized this might sound like something a rich, snobby person would say, and she chided herself immediately. Lucy didn't know where she would be sleeping – or doing anything, really – from this point on, so she should be grateful for everything she had.

Grabbing her bag, Lucy walked to the bathroom (the couple had said she could use it last night) to shower and change clothes.

About an hour later, after she had successfully prepared herself (her wig was a particularly hard to fix that morning, after all the flying and walking she had done the previous night), Lucy gathered her things and left the bathroom. She looked around the house for someone to thank, but found no one to thank. Looking out a window, the princess saw the crowds and realized that since it was the day before the festival, the couple and whoever spent the night on the couch (was it a cousin or close friend? She couldn't recall) must be out on the streets, in shops, or doing whatever needed to be done before the festival tomorrow. Then Lucy remembered that if the Peace Festival was tomorrow, then her birthday was today. It was a strange thought. Her first birthday out of the castle, and the first in several years that would not be spent moping, hoping that the king would remember it and at least _say something_.

In actuality, the king always remembered. But he couldn't bear the thought. The birthday of Princess Lucy reminded King Jude of his late wife. It was selfish, but he couldn't stand being around his daughter for very long because she looked so much like her mother. And besides, he had work to do, _important work_, like running the kingdom of Fiore, and at that time of year, preparing it for the Peace Festival. So King Jude ignored the voice in the back of his mind that told him he had always made time for Layla. He conveniently pretended that he didn't know the birthday of his own daughter. And he quit spending time with Lucy, except for business matters, like reminding her of her duty, or scolding her for not doing it.

Lucy sat down at the table in the kitchen, grabbed her pen and piece of paper, and began to jot down a thank-you note. When she was finished, she purposefully did not sign it. Also, she had written the note with her left hand (she was right-handed), in case something happened, and this note was examined by someone who would recognize her handwriting. On the table beside the note, Lucy placed 4,000 jewels. Surely that would cover any trouble the couple had gone to.

Stomach growling, she left the little house. That would be her first order of business, then, to find food. The crowds had to be at least twice as bad as they had been Wednesday. Lucy had to push and shove her way through. She attempted to be polite and gentle, but sometimes the princess just had to be forceful if she didn't want to be crushed to death.

Finally, Lucy stumbled upon a food stand selling hot fruit-filled buns. She bought two, and stood by the stand to eat them. One was strawberry flavored, the other blueberry. As she stood there, Lucy observed the chaotic nature of the crowds. It was amazing anyone knew where to go. On the streets, it was body on body, with hardly any air to breathe. And the crowd continued vertically, spreading over most of the capital like a thick blanket. It was annoying to try and get through, trying not to get kicked or elbowed too hard while remembering which way to go. But in a way, Lucy was extremely grateful for the thick crowd. It would make it extremely hard for anyone looking for the princess to find her.

After she had devoured her "breakfast", Lucy started asking people if they knew of any good apartments or houses for lease. Anytime she came across a storekeeper, or someone who seemed to know exactly where they were going, she inquired. Most of the time, they didn't know any place that was renting, but a few times there was a general direction or name. Lucy would follow the directions as best she could, and if she found the place, Lucy would ask about rates, living conditions, and the like. One place she came across was charging a rent of 250,000 jewels a month! Lucy doubted any job she got would be able to cover that, even if the apartment had a magical temperature stabilizing system.

The only other place she was able to locate was a little run down house for rent. Lucy wasn't sure what it was about the place, but it gave her the creeps, and raggedy old man who owned the place not only seemed shady, but he couldn't stop staring at her chest. _Being pretty is like a curse sometimes,_ the princess thought to herself. _Too many perverts can't keep their eyes off you._

Finally, right before Lucy was going to ask fairy number 57 for information concerning places for rent, she saw it. A cute, average looking apartment building that had a little sign on the door. The sign read, "Apartment for Lease," painted in pink. The princess knocked on the door, and entered when it was opened for her.

The landlady was a heavy set woman who had the look of someone you did _not_ want to upset.

"Hello. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lucy decided to be as polite as possible. "I am looking for a place to rent, ma'am, and I saw the sign on your door."

"Hmph. That's a miracle. Surprised you could see anything in these crowds. I take it you're not from around here, right?"

"That's correct, I came from the port city of Hargeon," Lucy said, saying the first city she could think of. "I was supposed to get here last week before there were too many people in town, but my travel was delayed, ma'am."

"Hmph," was all the recognition Lucy got.

"So… what's the apartment like?" Lucy inquired, hoping to avoid any awkward silences.

The landlady considered her for a moment, ignoring the question. She was not sure what to think of Lucy. The girl looked too young to her to actually be an adult looking for a place to live. The landlady supposed Lucy was probably a runaway, but by the look of her clothes, she wasn't anyone important, and if she really came from Hargeon (the landlady wasn't sure anyone could travel from there with such a small bag), it was unlikely anyone would find her here. The landlady sighed. It wasn't really her place to poke into people's private lives. As long as this girl paid the rent, she supposed it would be fine.

"The apartment is upstairs, to the right, if you would like to look at it. The rent's 70,000 jewel a month, with a 12,500 jewel down payment. Rent's due the last Saturday of every month. This month won't count if you decide to rent, since that's next week. But next month, if you're renting, rent is due that Saturday, and _no later._" At this last remark, the landlady gave a warning glare to Lucy.

The princess gulped, and made a mental note to _never_ be late with her rent.

"Yes-s, ma'am," Lucy squeaked, and then recovered. "May I see the apartment?"

The landlady nodded, and proceeded to lead the princess upstairs. As it turned out, the apartment was nicely furnished with all the basics, including an oven and stove. It did not have a magical temperature stabilizing system, but Lucy found she didn't care. It was simple, functional, reasonably priced, and she could afford the down payment.

"I'll take it!" The princess announced with a smile.

After she had made her down payment and unpacked her meager bag of belongings, Princess Lucy tucked a few jewels in her pocket, and headed back out onto the street in search of a job.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! And thank you, menaleus, for reviewing! Your words made me so happy! Until next week!

~C.R. Watters


	6. Chapter 6: Job Applications

**Disclaimer: I am not Hiro Mashima. I just re-invent his wheel.**

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Job Applications

Lucy learned very quickly that there was much more to getting a job than just asking for one. You not only had to submit an application some places, but you had to negotiate wage, services provided, and when you wanted to work. As she did not know this at first, she made quite the fool of herself at the first place she tried to get a job.

Flying down one street, she a little café on the second story of a building that proclaimed it was "now hiring". She did know what that meant. The princess was, however, unsure as to what to do to get the job. So she just approached the counter where a waiter was welcoming fairies, and she asked if she could work there.

"Hello, sir," Lucy began. "I saw your sign that says you are hiring. What do you need me to do?"

The poor waiter could not believe what he had just heard. Why did this young lady think he was in charge? He was only a waiter! Did she know nothing about how cafes, or how to apply for a job?! Or was this some kind of prank?

"Uh-h I don't know. I think my manager could find you a job application, though." The waiter, whose name was Phil, desperately wanted to pass this responsibility off to someone else. His shift was almost over (ten more minutes!), and this girl, by her current facial expression, was clueless.

Lucy _was_ confused. "A job application?" she asked.

Phil nodded, "Yeah, uh…" He looked around, and finally spotted his manager. "Hey Trina!" he called. Trina, the manager and owner of the café, came over.

"Yes, Phil?" Trina was now looking down on Phil, who was fairly short. Trina was almost six feet tall, and so was about a head taller than both Phil and Lucy (who was 5' 7"). Not to mention Trina was wearing heels.

"This young lady wants to know about the job opportunities." Phil neglected to mention Lucy's apparent lack of knowledge concerning job applications.

"Hi, my name is Lucy, and I saw the sign that said you were hiring," the princess said, reaching out to shake Trina's hand. Phil busily started to pay close attention to other customers entering the café.

Trina eyed Lucy. "I'm Trina. Do you need a job application?"

"Excuse me for asking, ma'am, but what is a job application?"

The 40-year old woman raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what a job application is? Then how do you expect to get a job? Besides, you're awfully young looking to need a job."

Lucy blushed and started to fidget. This was not going as she had expected.

"Um, I'm not from around here," the princess said, hoping this excuse would work again. "I just thought this café…looked like a nice place to work, and I started renting an apartment, so…" Lucy trailed off, poking her pointer fingers together and looking away, as she was starting to be embarrassed.

Trina snorted. "First off, young lady, I don't hire liars. But if you must know, most places require you to fill out a form, called a _job application_. It tells them about you, why they should hire you, when you could work, and things like that. Then, if they think they might hire you, there's a meeting and you negotiate hours and wages, and they tell you exactly what you would do if you worked for them. I don't know what your deal is, but don't go around acting like an idiot and expect to get what you want."

Lucy said "sumimasen," and nodded furiously, before hurriedly leaving the cafe.

Trina, with her hands on her hips, shook her head as she watched the girl leave. She hadn't meant to be harsh, as she actually felt a little bad for this "Lucy", but admired her bravery. Her attitude got in the way sometimes, but Trina was a compassionate woman. Part of her wanted to know what was up with that girl, and help her along, but her common sense told her that might hurt more than help. "Lucy" or whatever her name was, could figure things out on her own, and would grow and become more independent that way than if someone held her hand through it all. Besides, the girl obviously knew how to do blue highlights in her hair, or at least how to get someone else to do them for her, so she couldn't be _that_ clueless. Trina eyed her own dark brown hair out of the corner of her eye as she walked back to help one of the costumers. She'd been looking for _years_ a good way to do bright highlights in her hair. She shook her head to clear it of these thoughts and got back to work.

Meanwhile, Lucy was out on the street, mindlessly wondering as she mentally berated herself for being so stupid. The princess felt she should have known there was some kind of process to getting a job. It wasn't an important part of the country's overall economy, so she hadn't been taught about it, but _still._ It was common sense. If she had thought it over, Lucy thought she would have guessed there was more to getting a job than simply asking for one. And why had she asked the waiter anyway? Waiters weren't in charge! She had known _that_ much. And she had given the owner her name! That was probably her biggest mistake. It was too much to hope for that Trina wouldn't remember the strange girl with the name of Lucy that didn't know the first thing about job applications when word got out the princess was missing.

Lucy had to think up a fake persona. She couldn't go around calling herself Lucy and making blunders like that. It would make her stand out, and ultimately, that would get her caught. Luckily her landlady forgot to ask her name (though Lucy hadn't asked her name either), so she could still pick a name.

Briefly she considered Layla, but that would be almost as obvious as Lucy. It might be better to avoid anything to do with her family or the letter "L" altogether. After some thought, she decided on the name Melanie, due to the fact that her favorite author was Zekua Melon. It would be easy for her to remember and connect with, and it couldn't be connected to her easily.

Lucy got a funny taste in her mouth at the thought of lying. It couldn't be helped, she knew that. And besides, she'd already lied several times since leaving the castle. The princess became slightly uncomfortable as she counted how many lies she'd told to her people in a 24 hour period. She'd been so caught up in the adventure of it all she hadn't stopped to consider these things. It made her feel guilty lying so much. Lucy's common sense told her she'd have to do it even more if she wasn't to get dragged back home for a lecture. Yet her conscious scolded her, so the princess made a personal vow not to lie any more than necessary, and to apologize for these things once she took the throne.

As Lucy was thinking these heavy thoughts, she noticed the crowds had started to thin a little, and she thought she recognized the neighborhood. She quit flying aimlessly and started to take notice of her surroundings. Yep, it was definitely the same neighborhood. Lucy was almost positive.

After a few more minutes of looking around, Lucy found the building with peeling pink paint; the one Natsu had dragged her to just a few days before. Only this time there was a wooden hand-painted sign out front. The princess frowned, wondering what it could mean. The sign read:

FAIRY TAIL

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A/N: Sorry the chapter's a little shorter than normal. I was going to make this one extra long, but as I kept writing, I couldn't think of a good place to stop for the next few thousand words, and I don't have time to type that much right now, so… I promise the next one will be like twice this length though! I have more free time coming up and from my estimate the next good place to end a chapter is in about 3,000 or so words. Let me know if you see any errors or if Lucy seems OOC. Thanks for reading!

~C.R. Watters


	7. Chapter 7: FAIRY TAIL!

A/N: Thank you everyone for reading/following/favoriting/reviewing! It makes me so happy!:)

**Disclaimer: I am not awesome enough to own an anime/manga while doing school work. I only have enough time for school and fanfiction.**

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FAIRY TAIL

Inside the building, a fight was brewing. Shyly, Lucy edged around the side of the room towards the bar. It was different, coming into the chaos alone. The atmosphere of the room was odd, putting her on edge and making her want to relax at the same time. Fists were flying, shouts were heard and some magic was being used.

Lucy shook her head at the insanity of it all, and decided to play it cool, casually heading as if she saw this kind of thing every day to where Mirajane was serving alcohol. She sat down.

"Hey Mirajane!" Lucy called.

"Oh! " Mirajane was startled. "Hello, Your Highness, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Do you want anything to drink?"

Sighing, the princess said, "No thanks, I'm good for now. And just call me Lucy. I'm no one special at the moment."

Mirajane raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "So what brings you here, Lucy? I thought Levy said you only come to town on Wednesdays."

"That _was_ true, but things have changed. And actually, I'd like to talk to Levy. Is she around, Mirajane?" The princess turned her head, scanning the room for any sign of the blue-haired mage.

"Yes, she was just here a few minutes ago. I believe she went out to return a book to the library. She'll probably be back soon." Mirajane smiled sweetly. "And if we're being casual, call me Mira."

Someone else called for Mira, requesting a drink. When she returned to where Lucy was sitting, Lucy thanked her, saying, "It wasn't really urgent, I was just in the area and was wondering if Levy could tell me more about magic."

Mira nodded and said it was no problem.

"Oh, and Mira?" Lucy inquired, shifting uncomfortably. "Do you know of any good places hiring around here? I'm kind of, uh… looking for a job." Lucy averted her eyes, not sure how to explain this.

"There's not many places hiring in this area of town, that I know of," Mira began. "But, if you don't mind me asking, why do you need a job?"

Lucy bit her lip. "I, um, don't live at the castle anymore. But please, keep my identity a secret and call me Melanie when we're around other people. I'd rather my father didn't find me."

Mira leaned forward on the bar, curious. She loved hearing new gossip and drama stories, even if she couldn't share them. "What happened?"

Not in the mood to explain right then, Lucy simply stated, "I left." Mira was about to press for more information, but someone called her over for a drink refill. When the Mirajane brought out a barrel for the girl, Lucy recognized her as Cana Alberona from when Levy was pointing people out to her on Wednesday.

Lucy sat around a bit longer, watching the turmoil of the place. That's right… she'd seen the sign outside. When Mira was behind the bar again, Lucy called her over again.

"Sorry to bother you, but I'm curious. I'm pretty sure that sign out front wasn't there Wednesday. What's Fairy Tail?"

Mira began to giggle. "Oh, that. That's our name. Makarov, our adopted gramps, said in passing that we should have a name. Then Erza, the one that chased Natsu out last time you were here, she got quite serious about it. She called a meeting and declared we must decide on a name. Some inappropriate ones were tossed about by the guys, and a fight almost broke out – it would have been the third one that day, if I remember correctly." Mira chuckled at this, the continued.

"Erza _really_ put them in their place. A few more serious suggestions were offered after that, especially after Erza threatened to impale anyone who left before a name was decided upon. The general consensus became that we wanted a name that would represent not only our family bonds, but we do for the community. That is, the magical services we provide. Then Natsu said something about how our adventures will last forever, and Levy's eyes lit up. She caught Erza's attention, and told us about a legend she had read, called 'A Fairy's Tail'. According to the legend, many years ago a young fairy left Fiore to embark on an adventure. He traveled all over, helping people out and experiencing all types of culture and learning about the places he went. From the mountains the dragons inhabit to Extalia, to the few outlying communities of various peoples in the east.

"Eventually, he encountered an elderly half-dragon half-fairy in one of those small civilizations. The traveler asked to spend the night, and all the elderly half-dragon said was, 'you've had quite the adventure. I will not be around much longer, so I'm afraid you cannot stay with me, but worry not. My last gift to give I will give to you. You will have a never-ending tale to tell, as you adventures will last until the end of time. Enjoy everything this world has to offer, youngling.' At this, the fairy felt a tingling feeling at his back, and craned his neck around to see that he'd grown a tail! Levy said when he looked back up; the elderly half-dragon was gone, never to be seen again. According to Levy, the legends wraps up there, only saying that it is not known if the fairy ever died, and as far as anyone knows, his adventures continue in the east. When she finished telling the story, the room was lost in thought. Erza nodded, once and proclaimed, 'It is decided then. We will be Fairy Tail, in honor of the legend. It seems to fit all of our requirements. Any objections?' Gray – you know, the ice mage – grumbled something about it having nothing to do with nakama, but Erza glared at him, and he corrected, 'Uh, no objections!' And so that is now our name."

Lucy was grinning wider and wider as the story was told, flat out laughing at some parts. She was beginning to love the townspeople, or at least the ones on this place, Fairy Tail. When Mira concluded the explanation, Lucy inquired, "What are you guys exactly? I remember you saying you're kind of an orphanage last time, nut you seem more like a mix of an orphanage and a guild."

"A guild? Now that you mention it, I heard Levy mention it to Makarov when Erza and Levy went to get the name approved. I don't really know what a guild is though."

"It's like an association, usually among people with the same occupation, where the people work together and support each other," the princess defined. "They used to be popular, but that was before the peace between the countries, and guild wars were a bit of a problem. So they kind of died away when the Triple Treaties were signed. I had to learn about them in my studies of our country's history."

"Hmm, that makes more sense now," Mirajane replied. "Levy asked Makarov if we were a guild, but he said not quite yet. I suppose we're still a little young for that."

"It's not that you're too young." Both the girls jumped, so caught up in their conversation that they had not noticed the little man approach them. "I'm Makarov, by the way. You are Lucy, correct, child?"

He had a kind look in his eyes, and Lucy couldn't help but feel at home, even though he knew who she was. "Yes, but please, don't tell anyone, and call me Melanie. I'd rather not be found."

Makarov nodded, and continued, "You have my word. As for the matter of being a guild, there are old laws governing the topic. As I said, it is not that you're too young, there aren't age restrictions. There hasn't been an official guild in years, but I had been considering applying to be one. You see, a new guild must obtain permission from the council that is in control of their part in the economy. For us that would be the Magic Council –"

"There's a Magic Council?!" Lucy blurted. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

"And there are rules they must follow. The guild must have a master, a point man, so to speak, that is in control of the guild and if the representative of the guild to the Council. The guild as a whole, and ultimately the guild master, is held accountable for various things, and must pay an annual tax. Last week I picked up the paperwork to apply from the Magic Council and have been filling it out. I'm going to call a meeting here soon and we're going to vote on whether or not to become a guild. If the vote is for, all I have to do is sign the last page and turn the paperwork into the Council." Lucy blinked, trying to digest all the information.

"That sounds wonderful!" Mira squealed. "I vote yes already! If we became a guild, could Luc—I mean, Melanie, join? She mentioned she was looking for a job."

The princess was a taken back by this; she'd forgotten she'd told Mira that. Lucy was touched to know that not only had Mira remembered, she practically asked if Lucy could join their family. Makarov raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why not. The only risk would be that we would be a news item for awhile, and if someone recognized you…" he trailed off and Lucy nodded. There would be a risk; that was certain. Yet the princess found herself not caring. There was a risk staying in the city anyway, right?

Makarov looked Lucy in the eye. "If you joined, though, you'd be a part of our family. We'd expect you to treat as such, as we would treat you."

"I understand." The idea of having a family again thrilled Lucy. Her father was family, in the literal sense of the word, but she hadn't felt like family sense before her mother died. The possibility that she could have a true family again, even if not by blood, was amazing.

The white-haired man hopped down from the bar stool he had been sitting on. "Now then," was all he said.

Mirajane and Lucy watched as Makarov flew up to the second floor balcony that overlooked the dining hall. "CHILDREN," his voice boomed. As if by magic, the quarreling and discussion slowed to a stop and everyone's heads turned to their gramps. "I have some VERY important things to discuss with you, so go gather your brothers and sisters that are in town, and meet back here in half an hour."

Some fairies rose and headed out the main doors, and others turned back to their conversations. But the fight did not start back up, and the overall atmosphere of the grand room was more serious and subdued.

At about the fifteen-minute mark, the fairies that had left began to return, bringing with them their fellow fairies of Fairy Tail. Lucy watched this happen, finding herself becoming more and more attached to this family as time went on.

Soon enough, the princess spotted a familiar bluenette come through the doors with a taller, studded fairy. Lucy's face lit up, and she practically ran to Levy.

"Levy!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of the mage. Levy smiled, "Hey! How's it going?" She turned to the tall, dark fairy beside her and said, "Gajeel! This is Lucy, you remember me telling you about her?"

"Uh, call me Melanie," Lucy broke in, kind of awkwardly. Levy shot her a weird look. "I'll explain later." Was the only explanation Levy got. Gajeel looked down at Levy, "Shrimp, didn't you say she's the princess?" Levy nodded, but elbowed him. "She said she'd explain later. For now she's Melanie."

Lucy let out a breath, relieved. Levy was a good friend. Wait… friend? Lucy couldn't help smiling, for that's what she was. The princess hadn't known Levy very long, however she already considered her a friend. She hadn't made a friend so quick before. In fact, she hadn't even had a true friend in a long time. It then occurred to her that she also already considered Mira a friend. The princess couldn't remember ever being so happy.

"So what brings you here, Mel—" Levy was interrupted by the door bursting open behind her, the gust of air knocking her down.

"WE'RE HERE!" Came the excited yell of a certain salmon-haired fairy and the blue Exceed that accompanied him.

"Watch it," growled Gajeel. "You can't just barge in and knock people down." He gestured to Levy, who was standing back up, eyes wide, as he said this.

"It wasn't my fault you guys were standing in the way," Natsu said, narrowing his eyes a little.

Happy flew over to Levy and Lucy, "Aye sir!" he began, agreeing with whatever his friend had just said. Then he noticed the girl with the black and blue hair standing next to Levy.

"Who's this, Levy? She new?"

Levy giggled. "You don't remember her?"

The blue Exceed shook his head. "Cats have a very short memory," he pouted a little.

"You just saw me on Wednesday!" Lucy exclaimed. "It's Lucy, remember, Happy? Call her Melanie now, though." Levy explained to him, trying to jog his memory, but only succeeding in confusing him more.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Gajeel were glowering at each other, exchanging insults and about to exchange blows. Then the door opened again. Gajeel saw who it was and immediately fell silent. Natsu, however, had his back to the door, and didn't see the armored fairy enter. "Problem, boys?" Natsu whirled, finding himself face-to-face with Erza Scarlet.

"No ma'am!" He quickly changed his tone of voice from challenging to complaint. Erza looked at him and Gajeel real good, nodded once, put a hand on her hip and commanded, "Now get out of the doorway. You're blocking the flow of traffic."

Gajeel and Natsu quickly turned and made their way further into the building, Lucy, Levy and Happy close behind them.

More fairies and Exceeds came into the place, flying up to perch in the rafters, sitting down at the tables, or standing off to the side looking at where Makarov still stood on the second floor.

When the half hour was up, Makarov quieted the chatter with a wave of his hands and addressed the children gathered below.

"First, off, I'm going to say I'm disappointed in you. There have been too many 'accidents' lately resulting in the destruction of property. Natsu! Two houses this week! _TWO. HOUSES._ Gray! That soup shop in Hargeon. You were supposed to _guard it_, not freeze everything! Laki! You can't torture a dog when you're taking care of it, even if it's misbehaving!" He shook his head. "There's more of you, you know who you are, but I'll leave it at that for now." Everyone he was indicating looked away in shame.

"These damages come out of our pocket money, and this behavior can't continue if we're to become a guild!" Everyone, except Lucy and Mira looked Makarov in confusion and shock.

"I'm sure some of you know what a guild is, but for those who don't, it's a group that works together at the same job, supporting each other and helping each other out with jobs. If we were to become a guild, the Magic Council would hold us, all of us, accountable for the property damage that occurs when we take jobs. As I would be the master, I would have lots of paperwork if you guys don't change your habits! We are Fairy Tail, newly named, but ancient in bonds! Our name indicates an everlasting adventure, so let us live it out! Minimal damage would be nice, but who needs to worry about things when you've got nakama?!" He raised his hand, thumb and forefinger extended, and the whole room cheered with their gramps.

"Now," Makarov began, smiling, once the cheering had died down. "A vote needs to be taken today. We can, as a family, become a guild, or we can remain the same. If we were to become a guild, I would the master, in charge and Fairy Tail's representative to the Magic Council. We would pay a yearly tax, but we would be more official, and, if they approved of us as a guild, we would be the first guild in nearly a century! That would gain us publicity and we could become a more integrated part of Magnolia! If you have questions, ask them now, else let us proceed to the vote!" Pausing briefly here, he looked around the throng of fairies to see if anyone had a question.

"Very well then. All in favor of becoming the wizard guild Fairy Tail, say AYE!"

The mass of fairies and Exceeds responded with a resounding, "AYE!"

"It is decided then!" Makarov quickly scrawled something a paper he was holding, and held it up for all to see. "I have signed the last piece of paperwork and will submit it to the Council this very day! As soon as they approve it, we shall be an official guild from that point onward! Let's celebrate, children!"

A reverberating cry went up, and the chant of "FAIRY TAIL! FAIRY TAIL! FAIRY TAIL!" began, deafeningly loud.

Princess Lucy grinned. She would be a part of this family guild Fairy Tail, and she was exultant.

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A/N: Finished with chapter 7! What'd you think? Please let me know, good or bad! Reviews for me are like fish for Happy! Thanks for reading

~C. R. Watters


	8. Chapter 8: New

A/N: Sorry I didn't update last week (insert lame excuse about school).

**Disclaimer: And since I obviously don't have time for a fanfiction, how could I possibly own Fairy Tail?** Thanks minna for reading and being awesome fellow FT fans! Hope you enjoy this update!:) Also, I now have a beta reader, the awesome CrystallineDragonDemoness!

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New

"Where do you want it?"

"My hand."

"Are you sure?"Lucy nodded as Mira put the magical stamp on her hand. It was the mark of Fairy Tail, her new guild and family. Lucy held her branded hand up to the light and grinned proudly. Fairy Tail was the newest and only guild in Fiore at the moment, having recently been approved by the Magic Council. Their sign had been decided upon by Master Makarov, and was now worn by every member.

Lucy wasn't the newest member of the guild, as she had been there when it was made official, but she was their newest nakama, and that was an excitement in and of itself.

—Begin Flashback—

Yesterday had been the Peace festival, which Lucy had observed from the window inside of her apartment, not caring to be outside in the crowds. It had been quite the spectacle; lights, music, a parade, crazy street stunts, and of course the excessive partying of dragons, fairies, and Exceeds. The dragons mostly kept to the edges of the city, where they could remain full-size, but others flew over the city in races with fairies and Exceeds, and the ones that could shrunk down to their humanoid forms to enter various bars.

Lucy loved watching everything up-close yet still remaining a safe distance away, which was the reason why she's gazing from the window in the first place. As she viewed a group of acrobatic Exceeds, Lucy didn't think her day could get any more exciting. And then Natsu happened.

He didn't even come in through the door. No. The pink-haired rascal flew right up to her window, Happy in tow. Act first, think later, that seemed to be his life motto. He came sailing right for Lucy's face and knocked her onto the floor. They tumbled head-over-heels and finally stopped after knocking against her bed.

Natsu stood up. "Hey, Luce! Sorry 'bout that. Didn't see you there. Nice place, though!" Natsu smiled wide, showing his fangs. Happy chimed in with a hearty "Aye sir!"

Lucy had initially been annoyed, but the longer Natsu was there, the less angry she was. "Come through the door next time," she grumbled. "And wait, how'd you know where I live?!" Lucy glared suspiciously at the two of them, hoping she hadn't acquired two stalkers for friends.

"Aw, that's easy- Mira told us."

"Mira?!" the princess vaguely remembered giving Mira her address along with some other information so she could join the guild once the Council approved its formation. However she didn't take Mira for the type that handed out people's personal information.

"Aye!" said Happy. "She kept nudging Natsu and asking how well he knew you. She thinks he liiiiiikes you."

Lucy gasped, slightly shocked. So that was Mira's thought process. The she-demon was a matchmaker of some sort! As for Natsu liking her in that way, it was preposterous. He hadn't even known her a week! Lucy looked over to where Natsu had been, only to find him rifling through her stuff.

"Hey! Get out of there!" the princess practically screeched, snatching the papers he'd been looking at from his grasp.

"What is that? Are you writing a story or something Luce?!"

She pretended not to hear his question, and instead scolded him, "Call me Melanie already! I don't need people to know who I am."

Natsu gave her a baffled look then shrugged and turned, looking for something. "Where's the food?" he said, before spotting the kitchen and making a beeline for the pantry with Happy in close pursuit.

"Do you have any fish?" Happy chirped, ears perked.

"Wait—no, Happy!— and I didn't say you could have anything! At least ask before you barge into someone's food supply!" These two were impossible—she hardly had any food, having only the food from last night's hurried grocery trip.

Natsu paused half-way through a bag of chips. "Cam me beas hab sob hood?" He inquired.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. Honestly. "Swallow, first."

Natsu swallowed. "Can we please have some food?" His eyes were hopeful.

Lucy felt her heart soften. "Fine," was her reply, "just leave some for me. I need to eat too, you know."

The fairy and Exceed duo cheered and proceeded to "clean" out her pantry. Lucy just sighed and put her novel-in-the-making back where it belonged.

Later that afternoon Natsu, Lucy, and Happy played Go Fish—much to Happy's delight—and watched the crowds go by.

—End Flashback—

Lucy smiled, remembering the moment. She still needed to restock her pantry. But she currently didn't have the funds to do that.

Speaking of which—"Nice mark, Luce! I have mine on my shoulder!" Natsu ran over to Lucy and paused, turning so she could see his right shoulder. "You wanna do a job with me and Happy today?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I still don't know how to work my magic. I was actually going to talk with Levy about that today so I could go on a job as soon as possible." The princess had meant to do that when she had come into the great hall the other day, but some things – like guild formation—had kind of side tracked her plans.

"Oh. Alright then, see ya!"

"Aye sir!"

The two ran off to the request board, snatched up a request and headed out. Lucy watched with amusement. They were little kids, really.

Now, to find Levy.

Looking back to where Mira was still stamping body parts (and not even batting an eye at some requests that made Lucy blush). "Mira! Sorry to bother you again, but is Levy around?"

"Yep! I just stamped her shoulder a minute ago, Melanie! I think she headed that way." Mira smiled and gestured toward the back of the room.

Lucy thanked her and flew up and over the line of people waiting to get their stamps. She headed in the direction Mira had indicated, kind of toward the back of the room.

Sure enough, she spotted Levy sitting at a table reading. Lucy grabbed the chair across from Levy and sat down.

"Hi Levy! How's it going?" Levy looked up.

"Oh, hi Lu—Melanie! I'm good. I'm reading this book Gajeel found at the library for me. It's about traditional dragon fighting styles. It's not something I would normally read, but he went to the trouble of going to a library! And it's actually kind of interesting."

Lucy giggled. "Are you and Gajeel dating?" she asked. A blush crept across Levy's face.

"N-no, it's not like that," she stammered.

Nodding, a sly grin spread across Lucy's face. Mira wasn't the only one who could play at matchmaker.

"Anyway, Levy, could you tell me more about Celestial Spirit magic? I think I found my mother's keys."

Levy, obviously relieved at the change of subject, looked delighted to tell Lucy about the history, uses, and limitations of Celestial Spirit magic. The two chatted for a long while, Lucy asking questions about this or that aspect of her magic, and Levy answering.

After some time had passed, Levy asked to see the keys that had been Lucy's mom's. She'd read about them, and was curious to see if she could identify some of them before Lucy called them out.

She had no problem identifying the two gold ones as the constellations Capricorn and Cancer, but the silver ones gave her some more trouble. They were more common, and so there were more of them for Levy to mentally sort through. Eventually she decided the four were Canis Minor, the Clock, the Southern Cross, and the Lyre.

"Go ahead and call one out to form a contract," Levy suggested.

"Okay, but what should I say? And which one?"

"Um, start with one of the silver ones; they'll use up less of your magic. And hang on…" Levy flipped through the book she'd been referencing on Celestial Spirit magic. "Ah, I thought so. You say, 'I am the person who connects the world to the Stellar Spirit world. Thou shalt respond to the calling and pass though the gate.' Then you state which door you wish to open."

Lucy giggled. "I hold the key out like this, right?" Levy nodded. "Okay, then. I am the person who connects the world to the Stellar Spirit world. Thou… thou shalt heed my call and pass through the gate! Open a door to the Canis Minor, Nikola!"

There was the sound of bell, then a small flash of light, and an odd creature appeared. It didn't look much like a dog as was suggested by the name, but it was small, white, and fuzzy with a cone nose. Its peculiarities did not stop the girls from fawning over it.

"Oh it's adorable!" Levy squealed.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Lucy heartily agreed, picking up the Spirit and squeezing him against her sizable chest. Then she put him down for a second.

"He needs a name though," she mused. Levy tapped her chin in thought.

"Ooh, I know! I'll call him Plue!"

And so it was decided. Lucy snatched out her notepad, and proceeded to create a contract with the cute little Spirit she called Plue. Lucy would ask about a day of the week (she didn't think dogs could talk, even if they were Spirits), and Plue would either nod or shake his head, all the while dancing a little and saying "pun, pun."

After the contract was finished, Plue went back through his gate, and Lucy called out another spirit to make a contract with. This was how the two girls spent the rest of the afternoon; alternating between discussing the specs of different Spirits, and Lucy making a contract with one Spirit or another.

By the day's end, she had a contract with all 4 of her silver keys, and knew a lot more about what she could do. It was amazing, really, the things one could do with magic. Lucy was thinking she had made the right decision to leave the castle.

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A/N: And there we go! Chapter Eight complete! Let me know what you think and I promise, promise, promise on every ship I love that I'll update on time next week! Thanks for reading!

~C.R. Watters


	9. Chapter 9: Nakama

**Disclaimer: I make exactly $0.00 off Fairy Tail, as it does not belong to me.**

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Nakama

The media was abuzz. In one week Fiore had seen its largest annual festival, the disappearance of the crown princess, and the formation of the country's first magical guild in over a century. Soldiers roamed the streets, looking for Lucy and doing crowd control for the end-of-festival traffic. Reporters crowded around the castle and the Fairy Tail guild hall, attempting to get pictures and interviews.

It was a dangerous time for Lucy. She kept off the streets for the most part, only going out when she had to and always made sure her wig was on and fully intact. After she had finished making contracts with all of her spirits, she spent the next week studying and training. In the mornings she met Levy in the local library to research, and in the afternoons she went out to a field on the outskirts of town to practice her combat skills.

As far as combat skills went, she knew the basics of physical combat (the kingdom didn't want her to be kidnapped _that_ easily), and very little of magical combat. Sometimes a guildmate would join Lucy, and teach her better tactics. Her magic grew stronger, and she got to know her Celestial Spirits better.

Never before had the princess had so many nakama. Plue (the Canis Minor), Crux (the Southern Cross), Horogolium (the Clock), Lyra (the Lyre), Capricorn and Cancer of the Celestial Spirit world had really taken to their new mistress (though it helped that she treated them as her friends and equals). And then Levy, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Mirajane and Pantherlily of Fairy Tail, along with another half-dragon/exceed duo, Wendy and Charle had begun to act as if they'd known "Melanie" their whole life (occasionally one of them would slip up and call her Lucy in public, but they were getting better about that).

One day, while in the library with Levy, Lucy pointed out how odd it was that seemingly every half-dragon fairy had an Exceed companion. Levy had nodded. "I think it's because they really understand each other from the beginning," she said.

"What do you mean?" Lucy inquired, brows furrowed.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, this generation of Exceeds has been distributed all over the world, and are not allowed to congregate much, or at all in Extalia, according to the orders of their Queen. Therefore, since they aren't allowed to enter their home country, none of them know their parents." Lucy nodded and urged her friend to go on. She had heard about the strange diaspora during studies at the castle, and had always felt bad for the poor Exceeds. She couldn't imagine living without having known her mom.

"Half-dragon fairies have a similar story. It isn't often that a dragon and fairy mate, but it happens. The offspring, however, were despised by many of the dragon-folk. Not by the dragon parent themselves, of course, but from what I've read and what I've heard, the other dragons saw them as inferior and shunned them and their parents for 'muddying the blood lines'. Some of the fairies and their half-blood offspring were even murdered by angry dragons for this disgrace." The princess had also known of this, in her ethical social studies. It was extremely disheartening, to know people could have so little compassion as that. Love was love, right? She didn't say anything, though, and let Levy continue.

"Natsu and Gajeel don't remember their mothers. Both mothers were non-magical, and therefore easy targets." The voice of the blue-haired mage quivered as she said this.

"Wendy, though, knew both her parents. She was one of the lucky ones, especially since she managed to escape an attempt on her life alive when she was only 5. Her father had been there, though her mother – the dragon—had been out running errands. He took the hits, and fought tooth and nail to protect her. He lost an arm and gained many severe injuries during the fight, though. At the last moment, Grandine, Wendy's mother, returned and was able to fight off the attacker. Even though Grandine was a sky dragon, with healing abilities, Stephen, Wendy's dad, barely made it. It wasn't long after this that July 7th, year 777 happened.

"The remaining parents of all three half-dragons we know disappeared that day. They haven't been seen by their children since, and there are many theories about what happened. Some say all the parents were summoned somewhere, then massacred, others that they couldn't take the pressure from their peers and up and left. That second theory is just cruel, though, and doesn't explain why it happened all at once. And I refuse to believe they were all murdered."

Lucy heartily agreed, "That would be giving up hope, which would be ridiculous, as no one knows what happened. If I were Natsu, Wendy, or Gajeel, I doubt I could stop searching, looking for an answer."

"That's the thing though. They do go out and look for answers, but dragons still shun them, not letting them back into the native dragon territories and countries. Also, few other fairies even know it happened, much less where their parents could be. And it's been almost ten years."

The two fell into silence, thinking. It was a depressing topic. Then Lucy remembered what had brought it up in the first place. "That does explain why the half-dragons and Exceeds get along so well, though. Not being able to return to your homeland, and being orphaned at a young age, that's traumatic."

"Everyone at Fairy Tail has scars. It brings us together, because when one of us cries, we can all cry with them. We've been there, and know what it's like."

Lucy considered her words, and found them to be true even for her. Fairy Tail had become her home when she left the palace. They were a close-knit family, but not with closed hearts. Everyone was warm and friendly. It seemed ironic how the happiest people had known the most pain. Looking at Wendy or Natsu, one wouldn't be able to guess the pain they must experience every July 7th, Lucy mused. Or during the Peace Festival, she guessed. Peace was one thing, acceptance another. Suddenly she was glad Natsu and Happy had chosen to spend that day with her. Even if she had just served as a distraction from the pain, Lucy suddenly cherished the laughs they had shared. Then she had a thought.

"You said everyone at Fairy Tail has scars," the blonde-haired mage began. Levy nodded. "I remember Mira saying most everyone is an orphan, too. What… what are your scars?"

Levy was taken aback by Lucy's question. It was just too sudden for her. "My parents… um. I'd rather not talk about it much now, but they're… gone." Lucy simply nodded and hugged her. Levy sighed as she returned the hug. "I suppose… well I'll go ahead and tell you. It was almost two and a half years ago. I was twelve. They had been friends with some of the adults here in Magnolia, and I was spending the weekend with an elderly lady, Mrs. Granger, helping her out around the house, that kind of thing.

"Mom and Dad were visiting an old library in Alvin, I don't even remember why… whether it was a date or if they were looking for something specific. But the place caught fire. Mrs. Granger was nice about it, told me gently. She offered to let me live with her. I did for a while, a few months. But she was old, and passed away herself that winter. Jet and Droy found me, introduced me to Makarov, and now… Fairy Tail's my family." Levy finished her narrative, voice filled with gratitude and love for the new guild, yet old family. A tear trailed down her cheek, falling on Lucy's shoulder.

"They've really got an impact on people, huh?" Lucy said, trailing off. She pulled back from their hug, and checked the time. "It's almost noon, we should eat something."

Levy's eyes widened. "Oh no! I told Gajeel I'd meet him for lunch at 11:30! I got to go!" She hurriedly stood up and began putting away the books strewn around them, and gathered her things. Lucy snickered.

"Gajeel, huh?" she said, waggling her fingers, before helping Levy pick things up. The blue haired mage blushed. "We're j-just fr-friends!" she sputtered. "Mhm," was her only response.

The girls soon went their separate ways, Levy to lunch, and Lucy to her training field. That day she was alone, which gave her more time to think about her guildmates. The only Celestial Spirit she could call out today was Plue, according to her various contracts. He wasn't much help in combat, but he was a good companion on the walk home.

He was also friends with Happy, who happened to be in her apartment with Natsu, Wendy, Charle, and Erza when she returned that evening. Happy and Plue did some little dance together, causing Lucy to laugh.

She didn't kick anyone out of her apartment that night. She couldn't, not after hearing some of their stories today. It wasn't unusual for some of the Fairy Tail members to stop by her apartment in the evening, but Lucy normally made a fuss about their presence; why did they have to congregate at _her_ apartment?

But that night she didn't say a word; not when they ate her food, nor when Natsu almost caught her curtains on fire, nor when Erza scraped up her cutting boards (she got too excited over chopping celery). Lucy talked with them, laughed with them, and teased them. Her lack of complaint got her some teasing directed at her, though.

"Natsuuuu, Lucy's being weird… She didn't say anything when you nearly crisped her curtains!" Happy "whispered" to Natsu, though everyone in the room could hear him. Lucy quickly protested that she was _not weird_, but the duo paid her no attention.

"You're right, Happy, something's off. Maybe if I actually burn her curtains this time, we'll get a reaction out of her. Maybe she's just ignoring us." Natsu "whispered" back.

Erza glared at them. "Try that and I shall _remind_ you how to properly behave when you're someone's guest."

Mentally, Lucy raised an eyebrow. Guest? She didn't remember _inviting_ them over. She chuckled. These people were impossible.

Happy glanced at Lucy, and "whispered" back to Natsu, "Erza would kill you. We should test a different theory. Maybe Lucy ate too much greasy food today?" Natsu nodded vigorously, and Lucy glared at Happy.

"Damn cat! I'm not fat!" she exclaimed.

"Or maybe she doesn't have enough money for her greasy food anymore, because she spent it all on clothes, since you accidently shredded some of hers this weekend, and is acting nice so she can secretly plot revenge on us?" The fire dragon- fairy hybrid theorized.

"Don't eat anymore of those peppers, Natsu! She said they were for you, but she probably poisoned them!"

Lucy groaned. She had seen those peppers in the market on her last grocery-shopping trip, and had bought them for Natsu, since she had discovered he liked spicy food. She'd also gotten fish for Happy, strawberry cheesecake for Erza, and a few other foods for Wendy, Charle, Gray and Levy, as they were eating out of her pantry _anyway._ She didn't poison any of the food, and she _did not like greasy food._

Natsu dropped the pepper he'd picked up a second ago. "Luce! Why'd you poison my peppers? We're nakama!" he whined.

"I didn't poison the peppers, idiot!" Lucy exclaimed, exasperated.

"Male Cat you shouldn't go around putting ideas in Natsu's head," Charle chided, as she flew into the kitchen from the living room (her and Wendy had been having a private discussion). "He'll believe them."

There was an outcry of "Hey!" from Natsu, and he looked to his blue-furred friend to support him, but Happy was already flying to Charle, fish in hand.

"Charle! Do you want a fish?" he asked. Charle huffed, and Natsu exclaimed, "Wait, Happy! Maybe Lucy poisoned the fish too!"

This started a round of bickering between Natsu and Happy, the Exceed claiming fish were sacred, and therefore Lucy wouldn't _dare_ poison his fish; Lucy butting in to say she didn't poison anything, and Natsu saying Lucy was heartless like that. Wendy walked into the kitchen, eyes wide as she saw the friends arguing. Then Erza, seeing Wendy, swiveled from where she was chopping celery stalks, and scolded Lucy, Natsu, and Happy – knife in hand—for scaring Wendy.

That got the trio to shut up. Erza, as Happy aptly put it, was _scary_. Then Lucy noticed Wendy was holding a game of checkers, and asked the younger girl if she wanted to play. Wendy nodded.

Then, of course, Natsu shouted "I'm all fired up! I'm going to beat you all!" That earned him a smack on the head from Erza, who explained it was a two-player game. Natsu went to pout in the living room, sad he had no one to talk to. Happy joined him later, after yet another rejection from Charle.

Wendy and Lucy played a few games of checkers, each winning some. Erza and Charle looked on, until Charle said it was late and Wendy needed to go to bed. The checkers game was packed up, and the two left. Erza moved from where she'd been sitting by them on the floor, and muttered she'd probably better go too.

Lucy walked Wendy and Charle to the door, then, with the help of Erza, woke Natu and Happy, who'd fallen asleep on her couch. Erza dragged the two boys out the door and bade Lucy good night.

Lucy collapsed on her bed, worn out from the day's events. She thought of how cute Natsu and Happy had been, curled up on her sofa. Then of how neither of them knew where their parents were. And Wendy, little Wendy. She was so young, but she, too had been through difficult times. Lucy couldn't imagine watching a loved one lose a limb trying to protect you, and not being able to help.

It made Lucy feel bad about pitying herself for having a mean father. At least she had a father. And he was even a king! She truly hadn't been that bad off, there were so many people at Fairy Tail who had stories worse than hers, she was sure. Lucy told herself never to pity herself like that again, it wasn't right. She was the crown princess of Fiore! Her people must always come before herself, and she must always remember she was one of the lucky ones. And besides, she had nakama now, and was learning magic. The things she had left to find she had found, thanks to Natsu. She had no right to pity herself. The princess drifted off to sleep that night thinking of a certain salmon-haired half-dragon.

* * *

After two more days, though, the heir of Fiore's richest family was broke. The nightly visits from her nakama had taken their toll, and Lucy spent her last jewel on food. She needed to go on a mission, and collect enough money to restock her pantry and pay her rent.

She didn't really feel ready, but after about a week's worth of training, she knew she was more prepared than she had been when she joined Fairy Tail. Also, the media buzz over the new guild was starting to die down. It was time.

Lucy walked into the guild hall that morning, greeted Mira, skirted the first brawl of the day, and made her way over to the request board. Then she started looking over the requests. Fortune telling… no….Bandits… maybe…

She was still musing over which job to pick when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned, and there was—dammit—a reporter standing there, pen and paper in hand.

"Hello! I'm Jason from the Weekly Sorcerer! Are you new? I haven't seen you around the past few days I've been reporting here at Fairy Tail! First guild in a century, it's so cool! What's your name?"

She had to get away from this. "Uh… Melanie," was her sub-par response. She quickly scanned the guild hall. Then she saw Natsu. "Gotta go," she muttered, then dashed off in the direction of the fight where Natsu was trading insults with Gray.

"Hey Natsu!" she called. "Whatcha doin?" she asked, hoping the reporter wouldn't follow her, and that if he did, he would be bored watching chat with a guildmate.

"Hey L—Mel! I'm telling this idiot stripper here that the sun really does revolve around the earth!" Lucy facepalmed, wishing she hadn't asked, right as Gray exclaimed, "Yeah, right, fire breath! The sun revolves around the _moon, _which revolves around the earth!"

"Nuh-uh, Ice Princess!"

"Wanna bet, Pinky?" They bickered with each other, foreheads pressed together. Lucy sighed, what was she going to do with these two?

She had an idea, right as both boys turned to her and simultaneously demanded, "Tell him he's wrong!"

Lucy folded her arms and shook her head. "You're both wrong." She deadpanned.

That started a "Ha ha! Told ya!" "Idiot, she said you're wrong too!"

"Hey guys!"Lucy called, right as they were about to trade blows. She noticed Erza was heading their way. "_Guys!"_

"GUYS!" she practically screeched at the fire and ice mages. "What?!" they said, again in perfect unison.

"Do you want to do a job together with me?" she asked. That had been her plan to stop the bickering, right before they asked her opinion. They considered her question for a second, then Gray haughtily said, "Not if it means I have to be with this prick."

Erza, who had watched Lucy break up the argument from behind the boys, clapped her hands and said, "That sounds like a great idea! I'm sure you two will have _no problem_ doing a job with me and Melanie."

Gray slung an arm around Natsu and exclaimed, "Right! We're _best friends!_"

"Aye sir!" Natsu agreed in a high pitched voice.

Erza looked at Lucy. "Did you have a particular job in mind?"

"Not really, but there was one about rounding up a group of bandits." Lucy thought, out of the jobs she'd seen, it was the most appropriate for a group. The four headed over to the job board. Thankfully, the reporter had moved on.

They looked at the request:

BREAK UP GROUP OF WIZARD BANDITS, RETRIEVE STOLEN GOODS.

REQUEST MADE BY JEFFRY RICHARDS, MAYOR OF ONIBUS

300,000J

Erza nodded, and snatched it. She walked over to the bar, followed by her new teammates. "Mira! We're taking this one!"

Mira pulled the record book for job requests. "The four of you?" She asked. Erza nodded.

"As a team?!" Mira squealed.

"Yeah! We're Team Natsu!" shouted Natsu. Mira squealed again and jotted it down. "No, we're not!" Erza protested, shooting Natsu a glare.

"Yeah, who would want to be on a team named after that dumbass?" Gray said. He then realized his error, as Erza turned her deathly glare on him. "Uh that's not what I meant! Uh—"

Lucy grinned at the change in mood for Gray and Natsu. Erza had quite the effect on them.

Gray was saved from having to provide an excuse by Mira, who said, "It's already written down, official. Sorry, Erza, Gray, but you're now part of Team Natsu. I can't change it once it's written down in the book. Team Natsu has taken the request to break up a group of bandits." Mira was quite chipper as she said this, which made Lucy think maybe she had made up that rule on the spot.

Erza sighed, then declared, "Well if that's how it must be. Team Natsu will make Fairy Tail proud!"

The newly proclaimed Team Natsu then exited the guild hall to pack. As they left, Mira whispered, "I'm sure you will."

* * *

A/N: And Lucy's off on her first job with Team Natsu! What do you guys think? Was someone OOC? Personally I think Jason might have been… *shrug* I didn't feel like making up a character for that position though… He's kind of important. Let me know what I can fix:) Please review! Thanks for reading!

~C.R. Watters

P.S.—as for the Harry Potter references (if you caught them), I couldn't help myself. In case you don't know, that's something else I don't own…

P.P.S.- in case you didn't know, I update every other Wednesday now. (I just realized I haven't announced this to the public yet. Oops. I not very good with time management. Or remembering things. Apparently. Have a good week!) - 11/4/14


	10. Chapter 10: All in a Day's Work

A/N: Reminder: I update every other Wednesday now, cuz school's crazy… (sorry). Anyway, the prophecy is a-coming, and the action's starting (can you tell in this chapter?). Comments/questions/suggestions are always welcome, so pleasssse hit that little button at the bottom. I love hearing from y'all:) Thanks to Amy wolfscent and Co for reviewing on the last chapter!

Now for Chapter Number 10! To celebrate, I put a little extra NaLu fluff in this one:)

**Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, I would quit school. I haven't quit, so….**

All in a Day's Work

Jason couldn't remember where he'd seen her before. She looked so _familiar_. The reporter was sure he hadn't worked with her before, nor had he ever dated her… There was just something _off_ about her too, the way she'd awkwardly said Melanie, like it wasn't actually her name.

Jason considered following her and getting to the bottom of this, but he had already stayed at Fairy Tail too long today; he needed to get back to the office and get his articles written. _The Weekly Sorcerer _was released every Monday, and tomorrow was Monday. He still needed to finish his 2 pieces on the Peace Festival, ask his boss how many feature articles on Fairy Tail they wanted to run (Jason had several already written), and write an article about the efforts to find the missing princess (he had interviewed a few of the Royal Guard yesterday, as the King was unavailable for comment). It was a lot to accomplish, and it all needed to be complete by this evening.

The busy reporter left the Fairy Tail guild and hurried to the office. Once inside the faintly lemon-scented building, Jason chatted with his boss, got his questions answered, gathered his notes, and hurriedly began writing the article on the missing princess.

As he reached the end of his 800 word article, Jason had a revelation as he put in the caption of the princess's "missing" picture.

_Crown Princess Lucy Hearfillia is a 5'5" 15 year old. If anyone has seen her, please alert the Royal Guard immediately._

He wasn't sure where the thought had come from, but Jason had for some reason started comparing "Melanie" of Fairy Tail with Princess Lucy's picture. He was six feet tall, even, which made the Fairy Tail mage about 5 and a half. She had been young, definitely a teenager, and probably in the 13-16 range. Both girls had brown eyes and a similar body structure (a nice, _curvy_ body structure).

If Jason mentally changed the princess in the picture to have black and blue hair, and be wearing normal clothes, they were the same person. The hair could be artificial. Jason jumped up from his desk, and ran out of the office as the sun was setting.

He flew as fast as possible to the castle, adrenaline pumping through his veins. On the way, he silently thanked his sharp eyes and mind for detail. Jason's long experience in the field of reporting had pretty much given him the mind of a detective, and he was proud of it. If he was right, then he, _he, _Jason of the _Weekly Sorcerer_, had found the princess!

Wasting no time, he hovered right in front of the guard tower.

"Who are you and what's your business here?" inquired a gruff looking guard.

"I am Jason, reporter from the _Weekly Sorcerer_, and I have information on the whereabouts of the Princess."

* * *

Erza had to drag a protesting Natsu onto the train to Onibus. Lucy was confused as to why the salmon-haired mage would rather fly until the train started moving and he stuck his head out the window. She couldn't help her laughter.

"N-natsu has motion s-sickness?" She asked between laughs as tears rolled down her face. It was just too hilarious. Natsu, strong dragon-hybrid mage, suffering from motion sickness, of all things!

Natsu looked as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Happy explained for him. "It's a half-breed thing. Motion sickness is common among half-dragons, but nobody's really sure why. Some say it could be because of the two different flight genes not completely coexisting together, but I think it's because Natsu doesn't eat enough fish."

Lucy considered the Exceed's words, disregarding the fish comment. She hadn't studied genetics much, but it made some sense. Even so, Natsu's predicament was still entertaining. The lost princess couldn't stop smiling.

After about half an hour of Natsu's moaning, Erza finally put him out of his misery and knocked him out. However, since he had been sitting next to Lucy, that meant he slumped over onto her lap. This made Lucy blush intensely, though she didn't move him. Erza even apologized, and was about to order Gray to switch seats with Natsu, but Lucy said it was fine and wouldn't be worth the trouble. So that was that.

A few hours later, the train pulled into the Onibus station, and Team Natsu disembarked, Natsu slung over Erza's shoulder (he was still unconscious). They gathered their luggage, and started looking for a hotel. Just as Team Natsu arrived at a place called Wind in the Willows, Natsu woke up, fully pumped, and flew circles around the place while Erza checked them in.

After they had unpacked, the group of mages headed for the mayor's house.

"Man, I'm hungry!" whined Natsu.

"You can eat after the job's done," chided Lucy.

Erza chimed in as they walked up the mayor's sidewalk. "Actually we should eat after talking with Mayor Richards, since we don't know how long the job will take us."

Lucy nodded, and then rang the doorbell of the mansion. A butler answered, and quickly ushered the Fairy Tail mages inside. The group of five was led to a lavish sitting room, and instructed to wait while the mayor was fetched by the butler.

Five minutes and a broken vase later, Mayor Jeffery Richards entered the room. He wasn't very tall, and his hair was graying.

"Hello, you must be the mages from Fairy Tail!" Then he saw the shattered vase and raised an eyebrow. Erza and Lucy started to apologize profusely, but he raised a hand, silencing them.

"I don't need an explanation, just please don't do it again or I'm afraid I'll have to deduct a damage cost from your reward. Now, as for the request, there's been a group of dark mages pillaging, maiming the townspeople, and otherwise disturbing the peace of our town. I believe they are based in the forest out east of Onibus, as every time I have sent people out to investigate, no one returns. As far as I know, the dark mages are all fairies, but there is the possibility of a dragon or some Exceeds are with them, of course. Please apprehend them with all haste, they are quite a problem."

"We will sir; we'll start bright and early in the morning! What should we do once they're defeated and restrained? Should we bring them to the Onibus police station?" Lucy asked.

"No, no. Once they have been taken care of, one of you please come here and I'll send my personal guard with you. My guard is higher trained than the police force, though less numerous, and will load the bandits into a special anti-magic carriage for criminals to be transported to the jail. They have a lot to answer for." Mayor Richard's voice was bitter as he said this.

Lucy nodded, and Erza stood up, saying, "As Lucy said, we'll begin the hunt in the morning, as it is becoming too dark to start this evening. Thank you, sir, and we'll see you once the job is complete."

Of course, Natsu couldn't help throwing in an "I'M ALL FIRED UP!" which made the mayor smile slightly as he saw them out the door.

* * *

Jason was thoroughly questioned by a member of the Royal Guard, then by the captain of the Royal Guard, and then finally admitted into the throne room to be questioned by the King himself.

He bowed as the captain of the Royal Guard explained what he was before the King for, and stood once King Jude Heartfilia said, "You may rise." The blonde reporter took a quick glance around the throne room, star struck by the _coolness_ of it all. He had to resist the strong urge to snap a few pictures. He didn't think the King would appreciate that.

"We have heard you carry possible information on the whereabouts of our daughter," stated King Jude, leaning forward slightly in his throne, the definition of regal.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I believe I saw her today in the Fairy Tail guild hall. I had thought to ask for another interview—I'm writing a couple articles on the guild—but when I asked for her name, she awkwardly said 'Melanie' – as if it wasn't her actual name—and ran off to talk with a guild mate. Something struck me as familiar about her face, and it wasn't until later that I realized she strongly resembled the missing Princess Lucy Heartfilia. The only difference was the hair and the clothes. This 'Melanie' had black hair with blue streaks, but that could have been a wig or dyed. Her clothes were that of a commoner."

If this information surprised the King, he did not show it. One of the princess's maids was summoned, to confirm the King's memory of Princess Lucy wearing commoner's clothes and a wig on her weekly trips into the city. Beth, the maid, quickly confirmed this, though she noted Lucy had never owned a black and blue one. After Jason detailed the clothes the girl had been wearing, Beth also said she hadn't had any like that.

Then Jason recalled "Melanie" had had a key ring hanging from her belt. At first he wasn't sure if it was important information, but he decided to mention it anyway. King Jude started, clearly surprised by this information. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Jason. "The keys were nicely polished; they caught the light a bit. I don't remember any other specifics, though."

The King nodded a bit, lost in thought. It made sense. The Queen had been a celestial spirit mage, it would make sense for the Princess to try and follow in her footsteps. "Beth," the King said, "Locate the Queen's keys."

After she left, King Jude continued to question Jason. Did the girl have a Fairy Tail mark? Who had she talked to? What had she been doing? Precisely how long ago had Jason conversed with her? And so on.

After about 15 minutes, Beth returned, to report that she and some of the other servants had checked every nook and cranny of the Queen's old rooms, but that her keys could not be found.

That settled it with King Jude. He told the captain of the Royal Guard to gather his men and find Princess Lucy.

* * *

Their hotel room was pretty decent: four bed mats, a kitchenette, a couch, and a bathroom with a lock on the door. The lock Lucy was extremely thankful for. It kept Gray from entering while she was changing to grab his pants, Erza from stealing her hair brush, and Natsu from barging in to talk with her—twice. However, it did not keep her from hearing Happy's comment about her weight (he didn't understand how her wings could support her, the damned cat).

Lucy was fond of the Fairy Tail mages, but they did NOT seem to grasp the concept of personal space. Once she had finished preparing for the night, she breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the little bathroom. Yawning, she crawled underneath her covers with the intent of going to sleep.

That didn't happen until nearly two hours later, of course. Lucy had personally told the boys to shut it and go to bed who knows how many times, but they couldn't stay silent for more than 30 seconds. This continued until a pillow fight turned into a real fight, and Erza had had enough.

After a chorus of "Yes ma'am!"s, the boys went silent and fell asleep. Lucy, too, was able to fall asleep in the peace and quiet.

A few hours into the night, Lucy was awakened by an arm wrapping around her waist. Groggily, she opened her eyes, only to find their view obscured by what looked suspiciously like a scaly scarf. Lucy shifted, getting the scarf out of her eyes and attempting to sit up. The arm around her waist was too strong, though, so she settled for rolling over.

It was indeed Natsu who had crept into her bed. Lucy blushed as she realized he had, at some point in the night, removed his shirt. Not only that, but he was _warm_, it was like sitting next to a fire in the winter.

Lucy, furious at herself for having those thoughts, and at Natsu for not staying in his own bed, removed his arm, and brought her leg up. With a proclamation of "LUCY KICK!" she sent him flying across the room in the general direction of his bed.

Natsu woke up as he sailed across the room. "Ow, Luce! What was that for?!" he exclaimed as he hit his head on the floor.

She glared at him. "Keep your voice down," Lucy hissed. "And for heaven's sakes, stay in your own bed!"

Natsu pouted, but to Lucy's relief, didn't argue, and climbed back in his bed where Happy was still curled up.

Lucy found herself missing his body heat, but shook herself and went back to sleep. Thankfully neither Gray nor Erza had been awoken as a result of her Lucy Kick, so the room was quiet again.

Later, as the sun peaked over the horizon, Erza woke Team Natsu. After prepping themselves and eating a quick breakfast, they headed out to round up the bandits.

As the team flew over the forest, they noticed something was wrong. The forest was silent, not one bird chirp or squirrel chatter to be heard. This unnerved Lucy a bit, and made her rather jumpy. Unfortunately for her, Natsu picked up on this fact.

After they had been flying for a minute or so, Natsu made a shushing to Happy and dropped down below the tree line. Happy stifled a giggle as Natsu sped through the forest. Before long, right as Gray started to ask where fire-breath went, Natsu burst up from the trees below Lucy.

He roared a bit, and grabbed Lucy's ankle. Needless to say, she shrieked, her hair rising. Natsu released her ankle, and proceeded to laugh his head off with Happy. Lucy reprimanded Natsu with "That was NOT FUNNY!" But the dragon-fairy hybrid paid her no mind. Lucy looked to Erza and Gray for support; however, there was none to be had. The ice mage was chuckling, and even Erza was grinning.

Lucy huffed and kept flying, doing her best to ignore the comments by her teammates that followed. But hey, if Natsu "fell" into a few trees, that was his own fault. He shouldn't have scared her like that.

She couldn't stay mad though. They were just teasing.

Soon, Gray spotted a clearing in the trees, and the team made their way down into a camp of Dark mages. Time to get to work.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this chapter was shortish and too fluffy, I didn't want to split up the action and I also thought the NaLu relationship needed the little bits of development. Please tell me what you think, good or bad! Thanks for reading!

~ C. R. Watters


	11. Chapter 11: Friends and Enemies

A/N: I'm not dead! Sorry for the late update, but last week was a chaos storm. My grandfather died, so there was a funeral, etc., and it was also Thanksgiving (it's a U.S. holiday), and so there was even MORE family gatherings and the like. No private moments, and even less time to write. So I wasn't able to finish this on time. :( Sorry. But I did finish it! Please sit back and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: FAIRY TAIL IS ALL MINE! Unfortunately, the last sentence was a 100% lie.**

* * *

Friends and Enemies

The clearing was about an acre in size, just large enough for a bandit camp. Blue tents were set up, a few campfires were scattered here and there, and there were even a few shelters in the trees at the edge of the clearing.

The Fairy Tail mages landed in the center of the camp, startling the dozen or so outlaws hanging out. They quickly recovered, however, and several grabbed weapons or took battle stances.

Erza stepped forward. "Who's in charge here?!" she demanded.

Just then another mage—this one obviously a dragon-fairy hybrid – stepped out of one of the nearby tents. She had dark purple hair cropped close to her head, eyes like fire, scars—seemingly from knives -, and an air of command about her. "What's going on here? Who are these outsiders?" she asked, glaring at the mages around her.

Several of the fairies around her cringed, but one haughty looking male spoke up. "They just landed in camp, captain. The red head wanted to know who's in charge."

The captain glared at the fairy who had spoken up. "They don't seem like they're here to join are they? So wipe them out!"

"No, we're not here to join! Why would we want to? This place is a mess!" Gray exclaimed, hands behind his head.

"Yeah!" agreed Natsu. "We came to take you out!" Neither mage seemed to acknowledge they had just agreed on something.

Lucy pulled out her whip, in preparation for battle. Erza, however, held up a hand to tell them to wait. "Are you in charge here?" she demanded, staring down the violet-haired hybrid.

"I am," came the reply, calm as could be. "I, Captain Blooded Sakura, lead this group of mages along-side my brother Blackened Haru. And you are here because…?"

"We heard you were messin' with Onibus." Gray looked at Blooded Sakura levelly, arms crossed, despite the fact that he had lost his clothes since they had landed. Natsu took immediate delight in pointing this out to him. Gray cursed, and went about searching for his… well everything. Erza glared at him, Lucy blushed, Blooded Sakura smirked, and Natsu outright laughed. Things could never be normal around the Fairy Tail mages.

Erza turned her attention back to the captain, and lifted an eyebrow. The scarred fairy hybrid rolled her eyes.

"So what? We were claiming what was rightfully ours. People too weak to keep their stuff don't deserve it. What are you bitches going to do about it? From what I've seen, you can't even _keep your clothes on_."

Team Natsu bristled more with every word that came out of her mouth.

Lucy glared at Blooded Sakura with a look of pure venom. "You disgust me. You value others so little, and _take pride in it_."

The captain chuckled. She opened her mouth to say more, but Natsu interrupted her. "Enough chit-chat. It's time we defeat you. FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

He leapt toward her with remarkable speed, but she dodged it with ease, and took to the air. Natsu spread his crimson dragon wing and gave chase. Happy followed with a hearty "AYE SIR!"

Now the rest of the dark mages who had been loitering around attacked from all sides. Lucy dodged a spear, spun around, ducked to avoid a lime green streak of magic, and grabbed her whip. She lashed out, catching one guy around the ankle and throwing him into another.

To Lucy's left, Erza and requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. Not far from her, Gray began pelting the enemy with ice.

The battle was in full swing.

* * *

Back at Fairy Tail, Mirajane was trying her best to comply with the law and protect Lucy at the same time. It was a daunting task.

Almost an hour ago, several members of the Royal Guard had burst into the guild hall, and had begun to question people about the Princess's whereabouts.

Mira had made the mistake of offering them drinks. She wanted the new guild to seem nice and homey, not the kind of place that would be hiding the Princess. The white haired fairy had hoped they would leave soon, if they were treated well and had little cause for suspicion.

But the Royal Guard members were still there. They were awfully persistent. It would be hard to keep up the façade for much longer. Eventually, Mira knew, one of the drunken guild members would let something slip. It was hard enough for her – 100% sober – to evade their questions. One couldn't lie to the Royal Guards – it would land a fairy in prison for years to come. So she started _persuading_ them to leave.

Poor Mirajane had tried every tactic she could think of to get the guards to high tail out of there. She caused another brawl, arranged it so that a certain alcoholic challenged them to a drinking competition… Really, Mira could be crafty when she wanted to be. But even after making the guild hall an uncomfortable place to be, the Royal Guard had stayed.

After about another 20 minutes, it seemed the leader of the search party had had enough. "Alright!" she said. "If no of you will tell us where the Princess is, we'll find her ourselves! We know she's been here recently, so you would do well to remember how much we hate liars. Fan out! Leave no nook or cranny unsearched for clues!"

The party broke up, checking under tables, in the bathrooms, and in the kitchen. One of the female members of the Royal Guard even went to go inspect Fairy Hills, the female dormitories across the alley.

A young dark haired fairy of the Royal Guard hopped over the bar, presumably to check there. Mira was nervous, for many reasons. First was he kept sneaking glances at her, um, assets, even though what he was looking for was clearly _not_ there. Secondly, Mira suddenly recalled that when she had written down the members of Team Natsu, she had written _Lucy_. Of all the times to screw up… She had been good at calling Lucy Melanie too! But that damned book held the truth, and it was like a bomb waiting to explode. She could only hope the fairy checking her out didn't notice it.

Said fairy took a break from his search to openly ogle her. "Hey," he began, smooth as could be. "My name's Samuel. You work here?" Mira nodded, and smiled a bit. She knew she was pretty, and was used to the stares of men (and occasionally women), but something about the way he looked at her made her want to run _far, far away_.

"How about you ditch this place sometime, sweetheart, and come visit me up at the castle. I could help you redefine fun." Samuel winked suggestively. "What's your name, hon?"

"Mirajane. I'll get you a drink or something if you want, but I'm not interested in leaving Fairy Tail." She smiled politely with her words, but she reached for the nearest glass and began to clean it. Her hands needed something to do, or she was going to lose her mind. Even if it meant she cleaned an already spotless glass.

Samuel pouted, and started to climb over the bar. Mira mentally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the crisis averted.

But then he paused. He reached his hand down, and picked up the blue and gold books that had been partly hidden behind a bottle of wine and Mira's favorite cookbook. Damn.

The spine of the book read _RECORDS._

* * *

Lucy lashed her whip at one bandit after another. There was just _so many_ of them. The adrenaline of her being on her first mission raced through her veins though. Grinning, she pulled out Cancer's key and shouted, "Open! Gate of the Crab! Cancer!"

With a swipe of his scissors, Cancer cut up the mages in front of her, allowing her to take a minute to catch her breath. Team Natsu would not lose.

* * *

Up in the air, Blooded Sakura bellowed a mighty "DEEP SEA DRAGON'S ROAR!" in Natsu's direction. He dodged and sped to her left side, and retaliated with "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" She ducked, but too late. His fist clipped her left shoulder and sent her reeling.

Blooded Sakura growled. "You'll pay for that, pinky! CRUSHING WAVE OF THE DEEP SEA DRAGON!"

Water engulfed Natsu, but only temporarily. Happy took the opportunity to swipe at the captain's face, which distracted her. It was not long, but long enough for Natsu to pull in his wings and drop like a stone, unhurt but still drenched in salt water and brine. The _salmon_ haired mage made a face as Happy flew back to his side.

"My hair's not pink! And how do you expect to beat me with an attack like _that_?!" he laughed. "I've withstood weaker attacks from the stripper!"

"Aye!" agreed the Exceed.

The violet haired hybrid glared at him. "Do not speak ill of my water, boy! It has drowned mages more powerful than you! My brother will be here soon, and you have no hope of beating us both, so enjoy its saltiness while you can!"

"Yeah right!" shouted Natsu as he threw another punch.

* * *

Down below, Erza was taking out dark mages by the dozen. No could stand in her way and remain conscious. There were many of them, but her Heaven's Wheel armor was perfect for this situation. She was alive, she was powerful, she was _Erza._

As the red-headed mage reveled confidently in her abilities, she overheard snippets of Natsu's battle with the captain. At first she paid it no mind, but then Blooded Sakura mentioned her brother; it raised a red flag in the warrior's mind. Where _was_ this brother?

A mage rushed her from above, and Erza absent-mindedly blocked the attack with one of her swords. The whereabouts of Blacken Haru may not be important, but Erza hated surprises in the middle of a battle.

She leaped up, and grabbed the fairy who had just attacked her around the neck. "Where is the captain's brother?" she demanded.

He flailed about, trying to escape her iron grip. One of his companions rushed in to free him, but Erza knocked him out and to the ground without a second thought. The mage in her grasp gulped and calmed his flailings, though his wings were still spastic in their attempts to stay in the air.

Erza tightened her grip. "I said _where's Blackened Haru_?"

The mage's eyes bugged out. "He … he was… getting…keys." was all he managed before he passed out. Erza let go and let him drop to the ground. They were only a few feet above it anyway.

She dived down and pinned other bandit against a tent pole. "What is Blackened Haru up to?!"

This fairy was a little quicker to respond (maybe he had seen what she'd done to the last guy). "Getting… getting the keys for the ceremony, bitch. He'll be back soon, and then they'll blow you assholes to smithereens!"

Erza gave him a look that clearly said _if you value an intact body, shut up_. "What keys? What ceremony? Explain yourself!"

Instead of answering her, he responded with a creative string of expletives. She knocked him out and moved on. Several mages later, Erza had her answer, and it was not good.

* * *

Gray was severely annoyed. Why was it that _Natsu_ got to take on the captain, and he was stuck dealing with her minions? He was _clearly_ stronger than the pyro, so he should have an opportunity for fun too!

He punched another guy in the face, and was just about to give the hot-headed spotlight stealer a piece of his mind, when Erza appeared (seemingly from nowhere). She was dragging one of the enemies behind her.

"Gray, where's Lucy?"

"Last I saw her, she was on the west side of the camp, kickin' ass. Why?"

Erza glared at him, and the ice mage shivered. Then she threw the mage she'd been dragging onto the ground between her and her guildmate. The beat-up bandit let out a "umph" as she hit the ground.

"According to him and some others, Blooded Sakura's brother is not here right not because he's rounding up the other Zodiac celestial spirit keys in preparation for a ceremony to summon the Celestial Spirit King and some of the other spirits permanently to this world, with hearts o darkness, blood lust, and a desire to do whatever the siblings say. Also, Blackened Haru's an actual _dragon._"

Gray's eyes widened, right as a roar resounded through the forest.

* * *

Samuel held up the book and looked at Mirajane with an eyebrow raised. "What's this?" he inquired.

Mirajane perspired a bit. "The records book of all the missions that have been accepted in the past." She kept her voice calm, but her hands fidgeted a little more with the glass she was holding than they should have. This was _not_ good.

He seemed to have noted this, as he glanced pointedly at her hands, then opened the thick book to the page marked by the little faded gold ribbon. Samuel scanned through the list of accepted requests and the names of the mages that took them, then flipped back a page.

Mira focused on her breathing. In. She had to remain calm. Out. Maybe he would overlook it. In. Out.

Samuel turned the book back to her, a glint in his eye. "How long has this _Lucy _been in your guild?"

He didn't overlook it. Damn.

"I – I…"Mira sputtered, trying to think of something that would explain it, without lying. Her mind was blank.

"I thought so." He shoved her against the cabinets. The white-haired fairy let out a surprised squeak. "Thought you could keep it from me, you whore? Thought you could outsmart a member of the Royal Guard? Thought you were better than me? I'll show you, bitch." His hot breath burned against her neck, and she shrieked, frantically trying to push Samuel away as he groped her breasts.

Cana, who had been approaching the bar to get another barrel of beer, stopped in shock when she saw a member of the Royal Guard shove Mira against the cabinets. The alcoholic snapped out of it when Mira shrieked. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" she yelled.

And all at once, the brawl, the drinking, the search taking place in the guild, all of it stopped.

Samuel turned around to glare at Cana, one hand still firmly on Mira's chest. "It's none of your business," he said. "She was withholding information."

Every single person in that room looked ready to strangle the guy. His boss stormed up to him before anyone else could move though.

"SO YOU GRAB HER BREAST?! What information could warrant sexual harassment soldier?!"

He stared dumbly at his hand, seemingly having forgotten he'd left it there. "Oh." Was his reply, as he removed the offending body part.

Then he snapped out of his trance. "Ma'am, behind the bar was a book of records that says a girl named Lucy took a job yesterday with three other mages of Fairy Tail." He tossed her the book.

She continued to glare daggers at him as he said that. She caught the book, and opened it to the marked page, scanned it, and flipped back one. When she saw the name Lucy, she snapped the book shut, and glared at him again.

"Get out from behind that bar," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "You will be escorted back to the palace, where you will hence forth be relieved from duty. Consider this a warning. If you are ever caught doing such a thing again, I will make sure you end up in prison." She turned her gaze to the rest of the Fairy Tail members and raised her voice.

"As for the rest of you, you will stay in this hall, under house arrest if you will, until we get to the bottom of this. Sarah, Yuki, Miguel, Ronald and Ayame, you will stay here, watch over them, and wait until Lucy returns, or the rest of us do. The rest of you will come with me to take care of this ass," here she glared once again at Samuel, "and then we will follow this job request and see if we can't hunt down Lucy's group before they return home."

With that, the Royal Guard went on with their business and Fairy Tail with theirs. Elfman hurried to make sure his sister was alright, and Samuel was dragged out the door by his ear. His ex-boss was _not_ happy with him.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 11 complete! Again, sorry it's a week late, and due to finals, the next one will be too, (don't kill me!) but I promise I'll make it up to you by updating 3 or 4 weeks in a row:) What did you think? Was Mira OOC? Were the fighting scenes boring (it's my first time writing a fight scene)? Please let me know so I can get better!

~C.R. Watters


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